Andrew Welch

Marine safety and environmental stewardship are closely associated

2011-09-20T12:08:00.000-04:00

Marine safety and environmental stewardship are closely associated when you look closely at the Coast Guard's marine investigation data for a period of time, say 10 years. In fact, between 2001 and 2010 the Coast Guard's data from almost 21,000 vessel oil spills shows that 97.3% of the spill volume is attributed to just 5.2% of the incidents which involved a marine casualty (an incident resulting in a death or severe injury, loss of vessel or major damage). Non-casualty spills occur much more frequently, but average much much less in volume. Non-casualty incidents involve a human error such as inattention during fueling, or a material failure such as a hull crack or hose failure without a catastrophic event.

Interestingly, marine casualties can usually be traced back to one of the same broad causal factors as the non-casualty incidents - human error and material failure. Those 5% of the human error and material failures that released 97% of the pollution and all of the deaths and ship losses happened at really inopportune moments - such as when another ship or a bridge is in the way, or a spark ignites the cargo vapors, or the weather is particularly bad.

The Coast Guard does not collect near-miss incident data (as in commercial aviation), but it's very likely that such data would correlate with marine casualty data, non-casualty spill data, and routine inspection discrepancies.

Analyzing marine safety data, including oil spill and inspection data, is essential for prioritizing prevention initiatives. Good government and good business involves investing time and money where the most benefits will result. Even though a very small percentage of incidents are catastrophic, it pays to analyze the non-casualties and near misses, because the odds are that sooner or later recurring human errors and material failures will happen at just the wrong time and the result will be much worse than a minor oil spill or inspection discrepancy.

Disclaimer: Not my writing or research - I received these very interesting marine safety and environmental statistics via the CG Mariner Flag Forum, and thought they were worth sharing.

Fair winds, a welcome, and good stuff from Flotilla Northern Virginia

2011-08-12T00:19:00.003-04:00

Prevention operations dockside - Cole Ashcraft, Emily Johnson,
Etsub Demissie, and I conduct a vessel safety check, May 2011.

Northern Virginia Shipmates,

In June we bid farewell to our absolutely superb Vice Flotilla Commander and second-in-command, Ken Doyle as he moved to Kansas to study at the Army Command and General Staff College. This is a wonderful opportunity for Ken, and though his absence leaves us a great deficit, we wish him nothing but success over the next 18 months.

I am happy to report that on August 9, Emily Johnson formally assumed duties as our new Vice Flotilla Commander of U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla Northern Virginia. Ms. Johnson brings to this post her experience serving on small boats, as a vessel examiner, instructor, and as a human resources officer. She is graduate of the Coast Guard Auxiliary program at The College of William and Mary, where she served as commander of her detachment.

Response operations underway - Sam Tadros, Cole Ashcraft,
and J.R. Clark training under sail, July 2011.

I have to admit that I was one of her instructors during her time at William and Mary, and I am immensely proud of what she has accomplished since then.

Emily and I lead the finest crew in the entire Coast Guard Auxiliary. Of this I have no doubt. At my change of watch this past January, I shared my belief that "history is replete with turning points, when small groups of good people accomplish extraordinary things." As a tribute to each of you, and also to Mr. Doyle's leadership, I'll share with you some of the great things this small group of part-time "coasties" has accomplished since January 1, 2011:

You have provided assistance to at least 50 mariners on waters ranging from the Potomac River to the Chesapeake Bay;
You have demonstrated extraordinary devotion to duty through your collective participation in 10 distinct incidents, 73 distinct exercises, and 80 distinct events;
You have honored your profession through your observance of the sea's traditions - a change of watch, a dining out, and over 100 hours out in the community telling the Coast Guard's story;
You have respected your shipmates by taking care of each other through tough times - personal sickness and loss, trying times in your families, and in strengthening friendships;
Six of you have qualified as new vessel examiners, and are already keeping others safe before they leave their dock;
One of you has qualified as new boat crew, with another five of you well on your way in the next several months;
Your tireless efforts on the decks and in the engine room have brought two new vessels online and in service to the public trust.

Fun stuff, too - myself, Deadre Henderson, Sam Tadros,
Emily Johnson, Dan LiBrando, and Kati Frost at the Coast
Guard Ball in Virginia Beach, April 2011.

I could not be more proud to serve with you. In the next six months we will focus on maintaining the operational tempo we have reached this summer, operationally qualifying our most junior members, and working hard to building up our crew. Thank you to Ken for your service - fair winds, and see you when you return. Welcome aboard, Emily. Thanks to each and every one of you for your service.

Very respectfully,
Andrew Welch
Flotilla Commander

The Fourth of July is a celebration for all Americans

2011-07-04T11:15:00.000-04:00

I wanted to write a quick note before any more of the Fourth of July holiday passed. This is my favorite of all holidays, not least because of the good season in which it occurs. Other holidays celebrate distinct segments of our American society – veterans, workers, fallen soldiers – but the Fourth of July, in my mind, a celebration of all those that have come before us and labor now to make this country what it is.

Whether Soldier, Marine, Coastie, Sailor, Airman, police officer, civil servant, doctor, teacher, lawyer, business person, tradesman, or any of the other numerous professions and passions that contribute to the world around us – the Fourth of July is a holiday to be shared by all.

We all work very hard, plowing through obstacles and uncertainty to get the job done. I hope that you are able to set your duties aside for more important things, namely friends and family, for at least a part of the day. I also hope that you will keep those that are not so lucky on your mind, particularly those standing the watch today around the world. Be safe, be well, and as always, sincere thanks for your service in all of the many places where you serve.

Father of fallen Marine promoted to Commander

2011-06-09T01:33:00.000-04:00

I miss writing here, but so much has been happening in recent months (remember this?) that writing has just not found the time. If there was ever a good story to catch my eye and bring me back to the blog, it was this one that I saw today.

Remember the "Heroes in our Midst" segments? This guy is one of them...

Thank you for your service, Sir.

Why snowstorms make me happy to have grown up in West Virginia...

2011-01-28T13:37:00.001-05:00

In case you missed it, the northeast (including my home just outside of Washington, DC) was hit by another snowstorm two days ago. I actually love the snow, and at some point Wednesday night when I was out with a group of fifteen other people (mostly random folks that I didn't know) pushing hundreds of cars up the hill on West Park Drive in Tysons Corner, VA, it occurred to me that snowstorms are the annual occasion when I am most grateful for having grown up in the state of West Virginia... to which I owe the following:

Ability to take my Honda Civic up a snow covered hill when the others are spinning their wheels - back up, slide into a lower gear, floor it, and don't let up until you're safely home;
Insanely warm snow boots, courtesy of Cabella's (The World's Foremost Outfitter), that the average urban/suburban dweller simply doesn't think to buy;
A belief that you do what has to be done, even if that means getting home after a 3 hour (yet 2 mile) commute, taking off your suit and tie, and putting your snow gear on for a long night of pushing;
Comfort being best friends with the total strangers out pushing cars with you (I liken this to dialing a wrong number yet still being able to carry on a 30 minute conversation with the person you called); and
Willingness to trudge through snow to acquire food from the grocery store... WITHOUT COMPLAINING.

Consider it a list of tips for surviving the next snow dumping, from a guy who remembers walls of snow taller than he was as a kid.

Also:

To whoever it was who was texting while driving a car that was being pushed up a hill on which you were sliding around... probably want to get your priorities straight;
If someone helps you, say "thank you;" and
If someone needs your help, get out and push.

Another new mission: Flotilla Commander on the Upper Potomac

2011-01-21T14:02:00.005-05:00

One of the things I love about serving in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, even as a part timer, is the opportunity to take on new missions as a matter of course. One could let himself become stale, but not for lack of opportunity. From my first assignment once upon a time as a public affairs and communications officer, through later moments spent out on the water and on the deck plate, to my time spent as officer in charge of the detachment at The College of William and Mary and then later as Chief of University Programs, each subsequent experience has refreshed my love for the way I spend many of my weekends and evenings.

Earlier this month I took on a new mission when I assumed duties as Commander of Flotilla Northern Virginia, a unit home to about forty people working with the active duty Station Washington to provide marine safety, security, and stewardship on the upper Potomac River near Washington, DC. I am unspeakably excited for the challenge that lies ahead, and am extraordinarily thankful for the first-rate crew that I get to work with. I am also happy that these new duties does not mean the end of my work with USCG Auxiliary University Programs; I stay on there, working with the great staff we have assembled to carry on the mission educating, training, and preparing college students around the country as future "leaders in service." No doubt I will reflect further on the entire experience in the months ahead, but for the time being I wanted to thank the crew, as well as the family, friends, and personal mentors that joined us for a change of watch this past Saturday, January 15, 2011.

Rather than add more words to that which was said on Saturday, I have instead included the text of my remarks from that evening below. I also want to share our small, but growing, photo album from the day's events - thank you to all who took and contributed photos.

Good evening, friends, family, shipmates.

I realize that our ceremony is a little more formal tonight than what is sometimes seen at an Auxiliary Change of Watch, but it is said that at sea there is a tradition older even than the traditions of the country itself. It is the tradition that with responsibility goes authority, and with them both goes accountability. Mr. Doyle and I felt it essential to begin this watch by observing one of the sea's great traditions: that of passing responsibility, authority, and accountability from one leader to the next.

What an evening this is, here in the presence of some of the most astonishingly great people that I have ever known.

As I was walking in earlier, I couldn't help but to be taken up in this place, Fort Myer, where generations of great American men and women have passed some of their time in service to our country. They have been selfless public servants, some warriors, and -- as we in the Coast Guard can attest -- humanitarians and life savers as well.

Serving far and wide, they have been women like Ida Lewis -- who as an 1800's lighthouse keeper saved as many as 237 lives and helped clear the way for women in our service... the first female ship Captain, the first female vice service chief, and recently announced, the first female service academy superintendent. They have been men like Michael Healy, who in assuming command of a cutter in 1882 became the first African-American ship captain in our nation's history; or men like Joshua James, who died saving others while on active duty at the age of seventy-four.

Indeed these heroes from our past inform our present - male, female, black, white, old, young, new recruit or seasoned veteran - in our service, and in our Flotilla, everyone eager to live our core values and serve the American people is welcome to serve with us.

But evenings like this are most poignantly special thanks to those that have inspired us personally, like Jim Clark, who has been a mentor to so many of us since our days as students or instructor at The College of William and Mary. Or my grandfather, retired Navy Captain Richard Knott, whose steady hand and stories of air and sea told to this child years ago are perhaps most responsible for my standing here before you tonight.

Collectively, these are the people and legacy that we honor with tonight's change of watch ceremony, symbolizing a centuries-unbroken chain of service.

This unit is in the midst of such significant change with people coming, going, retiring, transferring, and the newest recruits making this their very first Coast Guard home. There are, at this moment, forty-four shipmates on our roster, with well over half of them in some such uncertainty. But the core is strong, and it is led by bright and capable young Auxiliary officers, with several in the midst of their first assignments.

Anyone who has ever worn a uniform is no doubt familiar with the barely controlled chaos that is preparing dress uniforms -- many of which have not been worn in quite some time -- the week before a formal event. Between items being out of stock at the exchange, a late night drive through a snow storm in search of emergency tailoring, pants ripping, and the fact that several of you are now on a first name basis with the good people at the district material center (to whom, by the way, we must send cookies), I hope that this recently minted crew has learned how a little teamwork and advance planning can overcome any challenge. In fact, one of your shipmates, and I won't mention names, nearly had to pay thirty dollars to FedEx a ninety-nine cent button here yesterday. But in the end, we all seem to clean up well. And it's a good thing, too, because there are many eyes on us this evening. With so much change here in the Flotilla, it's no wonder that our guests tonight outnumber the crew.

I am undaunted.

Tonight we are promising great things, and we are doing so in the presence of senior officers, friends, family, significant others, and shipmates from around the Coast Guard. Our die is cast, and forward is our only direction. But history is replete with turning points, when small groups of good people accomplish extraordinary things.

I thought a lot about what to say this evening. And with a little help, it came to me last night: don't try to be too lofty, Andrew; speak directly, and speak from the heart.

We all have different reasons for being here. But whether you are here to save one, or to save the world; for friendship or for country; because you love the sea or because you know that you're just very good at what you do, I ask that you serve with the mission in mind. That our Coast Guard Core Values -- Honor, Respect, Devotion to Duty -- be your watch words. That you remember we serve the American taxpayer, the people of our community. That when you are here, you lay greatness on the line: your best uniform, your best professionalism, your best seamanship, your firm, yet temperate conduct, perseverance in your duties. What I believe in is faith, and I have faith in this crew, that if you do these things, we will prevail.

You will look into the eyes of American men and women who you are charged with serving, and in some cases, whose lives you are charged with saving. You will see them on the dockside, and on their boats. You will see them in the supermarket and in your offices, and neither you nor them will know it. And it will be your training, your readiness, but most of all your tireless devotion to duty that will prepare you - day in and day out - to stand the watch, and, when called upon, to save. It will be your mission, and I implore each of you to make it your passion, and your calling.

Thank you, all, for your support - and more than anything, thank you for your service.

Now, we get to work!

Fifty years of President Kennedy: immortal words appealing to our common better nature

2011-01-20T10:38:00.000-05:00

Fifty years ago today, U.S. President John Kennedy marked his inauguration with some of the best oration in American history.

Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service, surround the glove. Now the trumpet summons us again. Not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need. Not as a call to battle, though embattled we are. But a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation; a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.

Can we forge against these enemies, a grand and global alliance? North and south, east and west, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility; I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people, or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it. And the globe from that fire can truly light the world.

And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you.

I had marked this post on my calendar before awakening to today's much appreciated Google Doodle; Kennedy's poetic words and bold vision have inspired so many of us, reaching forward into the minds of generations that know the era only through photos, books, videos, and stories.

There have been others to have inspired us in the years since (today also marks, incidentally, thirty years since President Ronald Reagan's first inaugural), but this semicentennial warrants special reverence. Fifty years ago today, 20 January 1961, the new President Kennedy offered us immortal words that transcended politics, appealing to our common better nature in ways that few leaders before or since have done.

Alabama Christmas Tree says "not too soon" for Oil Spill jokes...

2010-12-21T12:35:00.002-05:00

Have you ever visited the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse in front of the White House in Washington, DC? I did, Friday night in fact (frankly I thought the tree itself looked a little tacky, but I digress). I actually find the small trees to be far more interesting than the "main event" giant tree on front and center display. Some are profoundly boring and lack real creativity, but most are quite interesting because each are decorated by young natives of the state, commonwealth, or territory that they represent.

My favorite tree hands down: Alabama. For lest you think the residents of that southern state hit so hard by environmental catastrophe this past year lack a sense of irony, look no further than the ornaments on their tree. Colorful fish, trapped inside of clear orbs, covered in oil.

Sadly for Alabama (and the other Gulf States), though, the inherent properties of good irony are neither absorbent or dispersive. Last summer's catastrophic BP oil spill may have faded from the immediate thoughts of a nation whose 24-hour news cycle has moved on, but its impacts are likely to linger for years.

Boy who fled the Khmer Rouge decades ago returns home... with the U.S. Navy

2010-11-30T12:06:00.000-05:00

Having run myself a bit ragged through the always busy autumn months, several weeks ago I began a self-initiated "leave of absence" from as many non-essential functions as possible. I've still been working hard at work, at my "day job," but a leave of absence from my Coast Guard Auxiliary duties, from blogging, from the grind has been a welcome diversion. I've done some resting, some reading, some further exploring of my home city (Washington, DC); I've even taken a short vacation and attended the wedding of one of my best and oldest friends. Life is good, and I'll be "back to it" in several weeks.

Yesterday I read an article, Boy who fled K.Rouge returns to Cambodia a US navy commander, that touched my sense of history, my connection to the sea services, and my desire to see good things happen to good people. It is the story of Commander Michael Misiewicz, U.S. Navy, who fled Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge 37 years ago, and is now returning to his birthplace (for the first time since) on official business as the Captain of the destroyer USS Mustin.

Take a moment to read how CDR Misiewicz left Cambodia decades ago, found his way in America, and was eventually reunited with his family in Texas. I once wrote a regular piece here called "Heroes in our Midst," and I would say this one qualifies.

Thank you for your service, Sir, to the Navy, to the American people, and to the American dream.

Reflections of Veterans Day from Arlington National Cemetery

2010-11-11T17:33:00.000-05:00

I was at work today, Veterans Day, but I took some time mid-morning to go with my good friend and shipmate, Emily Johnson, over to Arlington National Cemetery for the wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknowns. We then walked through the cemetery to the Coast Guard Memorial (pictured here) near the southern end where the Coast Guard's ceremony was held.

When Emily mentioned how sad it was walking among the headstones, I thought for a moment and said, "This isn't sad. It's not happy either. No, the feeling of this place is neither one of sadness or happiness, but of gratitude."

And that is exactly what Veterans Day is, a day of gratitude for generations of service, and a day to celebrate the lives of those that have served. At Arlington, in the midst of a truly gorgeous fall day, there was nothing but warmth, American camaraderie, and respect in the air.

Whether at work in my private life, in the Coast Guard, or amongst the personal friends and family with whom I am close, I spend much time with those that have served and those that continue to do so. This is a message to you, and to all the world's people that give a part of themselves so that others may live, may prosper, may thrive: thank you not only for your service, but for sharing your passion and your devotion with those you touch. Thank you for days like today.

Happy birthday to United States Marines

2010-11-10T14:32:00.001-05:00

Though I am not one, I am always deeply moved by the tradition and reverence that our Marines show each November 10th, and I felt it only fitting that we share their spirit and thank them for their service on this their most important of days. This morning I attended the traditional cake cutting put on by the Marines that I now work with in my "day job" at USIS - their continued devotion is, as you might guess, remarkable.

From the days of the American Revolution, to the young nation’s actions in Tripoli, to Guadalcanal, Chosin Reservoir, and countless other engagements of the last century, and most recently in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Haiti, our United States Marines have distinguished themselves as true leaders in service.

In the Coast Guard we learn of our service's great hero, Douglas Munro, who was awarded the Medal of Honor after he died rescuing a detachment of Marines from the beaches of Guadalcanal on September 27, 1942. Whether as Coasties or as Americans, our collective affinity for our Marines is strong, as is our deep gratitude for the devotion to duty that has made them one of finest examples of both American resolve and compassion in times of war and peace.

To my Marine friends, colleagues, and several Coast Guard Shipmates that once proudly wore the Marine Uniform, Happy 235th Birthday to you. Thank you for your service!

(Birthday greetings from Admiral Papp, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, are available here.)

Innovation Expo is an extraordinary Coast Guard moment

2010-11-08T15:32:00.001-05:00

I spent most of last week at the U.S. Coast Guard Innovation Expo 2010 in Tampa, FL. What a show - and how extraordinarily lucky we are as a service to have this annual event. I last attended in 2008, but was unable to make it down to Virginia Beach for the 2009 edition. More than just a Coast Guard family reunion, the expo is so valuable because it puts the best of what is going on in our extended Coast Guard family -- active duty, reserve, auxiliary, civilian, and our industry and community partners -- on the floor together sharing ideas and experience, and laying plans for the future.

Personal connections across silos and operational communities that might otherwise have been lost in the chain of command, and partnerships that may have taken months or years to be forged, are made accessible by an expo that literally puts a big sign up. Find the people you need, and strike up a conversation. It's easy to find what you need when thousands, from cadets to the Commandant, are brought together for five days spent on expo floors, receptions, and during informal after hours moments.

My presence in Tampa was, first and foremost, to represent USCG Auxiliary University Programs. The expo capped off a whirlwind three months for my branch, and for our students and instructors across the country. Starting with NACON in August, and continuing through the early fall with the launch of new detachments at California State University in Fullerton and Virginia Tech, we have worked with partners to roll out Communications and Seamanship as online courses for our students, we have announced internship rotations slated to begin Summer 2011, and we have watched in amazement as our graduates have ventured further afield and begun new assignments around the world. I am extraordinarily proud of what our students, instructors, and staff have accomplished.

Carolyn Olsen, who manages our program's mission support functions, emphasized a number of efforts at the expo. We talked summer internship opportunities with commands around the country and across varying missions; we sought new leadership development, curriculum, public affairs, and recruiting opportunities for our students; and we made a point of getting to better know the faculty, staff, and students from the Coast Guard Academy that we all hope our college students, from their various campuses around the country, get to better know in the future. One such group of cadets, the Academy's "Sustainability Club," was on the expo floor showing off their good work (click the image here to watch their video).

The Innovation Expo offers a great community moment for the Coast Guard as well. Having been held in cities with good Coast Guard affinity the last several years (Virginia Beach and Tampa), the expo is an opportunity for the host communities to better see what our service is all about, be it through conversations on the street, chance encounters at restaurants and shops, or through more iconic moments such as the Search and Rescue demonstration over the water outside the convention center.

All together, our Innovation Expo is a sight to behold and a fine yearly diversion. It should be the envy of many others, and worth exploring for your organization, should there be any readers here from outside the Coast Guard. Make a point of attending in 2011.

For another take on the expo, make sure that you visit the Coast Guard Compass blog's 2010 Innovation Expo: Diversity and sustainability post.

Praise for the U.S. Coast Guard from a British Commodore

2010-10-26T12:25:00.000-04:00

The U.S Naval Institute's October issue of the Proceedings magazine took up issues far from the average American mind in its article "Staggering to War in the Falklands?" I recommend you read yourself, and will leave the Falklands discussion to their article, but I do want to highlight some unsolicited praise given to our Coast Guard by Royal Navy Commodore Philip Thicknesse, Commander British Forces South Atlantic Islands, and incidentally a recipient of the U.S. Bronze Star. When asked generally about cooperation between the Royal Navy and U.S. Navy, Commodore Thicknesse answered:

“The two navies are nearly indistinguishable. We work together hand-in-glove. Curiously, it’s your Coast Guard with which we’d like to have a closer relationship. They’re absolutely nonpareil mariners.”

High praise, and an interesting aside I think. LT Mitch McGuffie, USN, said essentially the same thing of his Royal Navy counterparts in another Proceedings article, A Rude Awakening, back in January 2009 (available to members only, unfortunately).

Perhaps some of you reading can more fully discuss specific instances of direct work between our two naval services.

Intersection of media, public relations, health, food supply, and energy

2010-10-22T11:19:00.002-04:00

Every now and then I have to write about the good work being done by WHITECOAT Strategies at the intersection of media, public relations, and good science. In the interest of full disclosure, I once had the rare opportunity to work there alongside my Dad, no less. Though I have moved on, his work "telling the story of science" continues. I know the sense of mission and devotion to health, food supply, and energy production that motivate these folks to tell the story, but I was struck by the words of a post on the WHITECOAT blog earlier this week...

It is no surprise that science is a topic many people find too complex to fully understand and appreciate. Yet its importance in virtually every aspect of our individual lives cannot be denied. From breakthrough medicine and medical treatments to amazing new methods for food and energy production, today’s scientists – especially those in biotechnology – are re-inventing how we treat and cure diseases, grow our food, provide energy and deal with critical environmental challenges. More than mere scientific “topics,” these endeavors are also central to our domestic and international political and policy discussion. Health care, growing enough food for a still hungry world, developing alternative energy sources and solving climate change are all real issues that affect every one of us. That makes conveying accurate and precise messages about science even more important, if not vital.

It's interesting work, and I have enjoyed following it over the last several years. Consider following them yourself, either on the blog or on Twitter @whitecoatstrat.

Water: everybody's doing it (a Blog Action Day roundup)

2010-10-19T11:44:00.000-04:00

I imagine something may have seemed a bit odd this past Friday when bloggers from all corners of the web simultaneously tackled "water" as a topic to write about. It was "Blog Action Day," as I discussed in my post "Why Water?" around noon. We were exposed to everything from a water footprint calculator to reflections on water, life, and our own humanity to some startling statistics about hidden water consumption in every day life.

What follows is a roundup of thoughts, reflections, and ideas from some of the people that I have come to know writing as I do out here on these interwebs. It should surprise nobody that Ryan Erickson compiled a much more exhaustive list on his own blog (he reposted my "Why Water?" here, and also offered his own thoughts in the simply titled "WATER" - wow, we have been using that word a lot in these few short paragraphs). Have a read...

WATER - Ryan Erickson
Water. It’s one of those needs of life; in more ways than one. Our bodies are made up of some 60% water [1]; about 95% of U.S. foreign trade passes thought our ports system [2]; and many of our professions (at least mine) rely on the presence of water. In my line work (I’m in the Coast Guard) the images of water that are often present in my mind are those of Search and Rescue or Law Enforcement operations on the high-seas (and lakes). However, the most remembered images that remain are those of water bottles. Yes, water bottles.

Water: It’s all about me - Trina Isakson
On my recent trip through West and Central Asia, I made a visit to Moynak, Uzbekistan, to witness one of the greatest planned ecological disasters related to water EVER. Moynak used to be a bustling town supported by a vibrant fishing industry, as it sat on the shores of the great Aral Sea. That was over 50 years ago. Now, the depleted community sits over 180km from the current shore. There are old, rusted boats, sitting in the surrounding desert. Water was diverted from major sources to irrigate huge cotton plantations. Soviet engineers expected the sea to dry up.

What's The Furthest You've Walked For Clean Water? - Devin Mathias
Visual representations from around the globe (via Google Maps) of just how far African women have to walk each year to find clean water.

What's your water footprint? - also from Devin Mathias
Did you know how significantly we over consume water in industrialized countries?

Can We Change Our Water Behaviors? - Shanon Solava Reid
Today, October 15, 2010, thousands of bloggers from over 125 different countries will come together to write about water. I am happy to write about water because I love it. Yes, I am madly in love with water. What’s not to like? It keeps me alive, it’s always changing, it’s powerful, it’s relaxing.

Taking it all for granted... - Anastacia Thorsson
When I originally sat down to write about water, I found myself thinking of the history of water and all that it has meant to our society. Then I woke up to the news that they had found the remains of the missing [Coast] Guardsman. I found myself thinking about was the irony that tears cried for our lost shipmate, the tears of a family cried over a lost sailor taste much like the sea in which the loved one was lost. A touch melancholy I know…but it does tie into a bigger picture for me.

Why Water?

2010-10-15T12:12:00.001-04:00

Today is Blog Action Day 2010, and I must say I am both impressed and intrigued by the organizers' choice to focus the attention of our great global discussion on pure, plain, simple "water." A resource taken for granted by many who pay no more mind to water than that as a disposable to be bottled and drank, swam in, or lazily relaxed beside of, water is in reality one of the critical foundations upon which human civilization is built. In answering the question, "Why Water," Blog Action Day organizers write:

"Right now, almost a billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water. That’s one in eight of us who are subject to preventable disease and even death because of something that many of us take for granted. Access to clean water is not just a human rights issue. It’s an environmental issue. An animal welfare issue. A sustainability issue. Water is a global issue, and it affects all of us."

I'm not here to talk human rights, though -- they are an important issue covered by many far more qualified to discuss than I -- I do want to answer the question: "Why Water?"

Water is the life blood of the global ~~economy~~ system.

The landmark "Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower," published by the service chiefs of the U.S. Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy, asserts that "90% of the world’s commerce travels by sea; the vast majority of the world’s population lives within a few hundred miles of the oceans; nearly three quarters of the planet is covered by water."

Access to that water has proven to be a critical point on which the fate of nations and their people turn. Beginning nearly seven years ago when I had the privilege to work at the Global Environment and Technology Foundation (GETF), to my work now in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, I have seen first hand the value of water in trade and commerce, food supply, public health, and even recreation from the heartland of North America to the most distant reaches of the world. Whether a home for the vast amount of protein biomass found in the Bering Sea, or a global superhighway upon which shipments of bread and iPhones cross paths, or in the estuarine corners of the Chesapeake bay upon which entire communities build their livelihood, water -- and the health of our global water supply -- is a currency as valuable (if not more so) as oil, grain, coal, or gold.

My earliest childhood memories are of the water, of the fishing boats on Cape Cod Bay, of the sun setting across the calmest of seas. They are of a five-year-old boy studying the intricacies of anchor hardware until the last possible moment each day when the tide became too deep, of the slightly older kid that still couldn't figure out how to steer the boat in the right direction (I assure you this early developmental challenge has been overcome), and of the now more grown up kid that still remembers every last word from each of the stories his grandfather told him years ago while rummaging through the giant wooden chest containing decades of old Navy memories. Those formative experiences with the water have given way to my study of global maritime issues, to the education of young volunteer coasties, and to the great pride I felt as an American, or really as a citizen of the world, stepping aboard the U.S. Navy Hospital Ship Comfort for an afternoon in October 2009, nearly a year ago today.

Water flows through our veins, in both the most literal and figurative senses. So when I am asked "why water," I find myself answering simply and directly:

Because we can't live without it.

The Economist on "Oil, trade and Arctic ice"

2010-10-05T12:27:00.000-04:00

Not being an expert in Arctic operations or policy, I was happy when a friend at Coast Guard headquarters sent me a link to The Economist's video archive that features a great 4-minute overview of what exactly is happening between the five nations (Russia, Norway, Denmark/Greenland, Canada, and US) bordering that region. For what it's worth, I thought the entire "Videographics" archive was rather interesting, a good find overall. Have a look at a worthy overview for those not heavily engaged with the Arctic situation.

Changes to Auxiliary training programs move service ahead, despite some shortcomings

2010-09-20T12:35:00.005-04:00

This post originally appeared at CGBlog.org on 20 September 2010.

Last week's ALAUX message released by Coast Guard headquarters pretty dramatically uproots and reshuffles USCG Auxiliary training requirements across a number of areas. The intent, and the ultimate end result of these changes are a momentous step in the right direction of fielding a more mission-ready, leadership-capable volunteer force - though the devil is in the details that are sure to frustrate many in the field.

The big win here is that the "Auxiliary Operations" (AUXOP) program was expanded from its traditional single focus on boat operations to now include additional marine safety and aviation options and a required leadership development component. Those that developed this are to be thanked, as it was unreasonable for the Auxiliary to carry on with its perhaps pinnacle training milestone excluding members of the marine safety and aviation communities while ignoring the importance of developing service leaders for successively greater levels of responsibility. These changes bring a much-needed refresh that makes a once-aging training construct suddenly newer and much more relevant to the work that auxiliarists are actually doing today.

Unfortunately, the program seems to have been assembled with an eye to future trainees rather than those currently in the pipeline. AUXOP will henceforth require completion of a leadership component (great news). While AUXLAMS, Aux Mid-Level Officer Course (AMLOC), District Captain Course, Flotilla Leadership Course (FLC), and Senior Officers Course (ASOC) all make the cut, the active-duty Leadership and Management School (LAMS) does not. It is concerning that AUXLAMS (a worthwhile course itself) has been deemed worthy here while "gold side" LAMS has not, particularly given that auxiliarists have been slotted into both courses for some time now. We send a poor message to the field by devaluing the high quality active duty training that a number of auxiliarists have already received by making that training inadmissible to future Auxiliary qualifications.

Further concerning is that, while the old versions of every other modified course used as a component of the AUXOP program have been deemed acceptable provided the individual has already completed them (they are "grandfathered in"), the "Introduction to Marine Safety" component now requires that members of that community backtrack and complete a newly modified version of a course they previously passed. The alternative is to go outside of marine safety and satisfy the elective requirement with another course, a seemingly poor use of time and resources asking container inspectors and pollution specialists to choose between taking a course over or taking something far outside of their lane.

Taken together, the revamped training standards in marine safety, boat operations, aviation, and all-encompassing operations are a huge gain for the USCG and its Auxiliary. They will help to produce safer, more competent, more mission-ready personnel to meet the challenges ahead, and they add mandated formal leadership development for the first time. All are essential should the Auxiliary thrive and perform to expectations in the coming years. Mid-level personnel will feel the pain as they are forced to backtrack into training requirements that didn't exist when they started out, but such an experience is not uncommon in any organization. Perhaps we'll see some new iterations as the ramifications (most not yet known, I suspect) of these rather sweeping changes play out over the next six-twelve months.

What are your thoughts? How do these changes impact you, your unit, or (in the case of the active duty personnel) the auxiliarists that rely on to augment your operations?

Download the PDF of the complete ALAUX message to get up to speed on the full sweet of the changes.

Welcoming California State Fullerton and Virginia Tech to Coast Guard Auxiliary University Programs

2010-09-10T11:30:00.001-04:00

Fall semesters have begun on college campuses around the country. For a handful of students at California State University Fullerton and Virginia Tech, however, this semester will be unlike any other.

I am very happy to announce the creation this semester of new U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary detachments at both schools. One is the young program's second campus in Virginia, and the other is our first effort on the west coast.

The students, instructors, and staff at these new schools have worked very hard over the last several months to put their programs together. I am hopeful that they will offer the full range of operational, leadership, and professional development to their students as they come fully online and grow in the coming semesters. As the first new detachments to stand up since the original pilot three at Auburn, The Citadel, and William and Mary, these Coast Guard Auxiliarists are true leaders in service, and I thank them for their efforts.

With the stand up of these new programs, we have also launched the new "Find a School" page on the national university programs website. I hope that the new schools will have websites online soon, and that high school students interested in service leadership, work on the water, or serving as one of America's Volunteer Guardians or Coast Guardsmen will consider these great colleges when making their future plans.

I also ask that alumni of these schools get involved. Whether you are serving on active duty in the Coast Guard, or part time in the Coast Guard Reserve or Coast Guard Auxiliary, these students will benefit from your involvement, from your leadership, from your mentoring, and from your support. If interested in working with us, please be in touch with Carolyn Olsen on the University Programs staff, or directly with the detachment at your alma mater.

University Programs: "Our Graduates are Leaders in Service"

2010-09-07T13:30:00.003-04:00

I wrote last week of the very productive U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary National Conference that recently concluded. Steve Pegram, Carolyn Olsen, and I represented the University Programs Branch, and had the opportunity to make some really exciting announcements for our campus-based programs nationwide. I will be discussing this work here in a series of posts over the next several days.

We have talked a lot about the students that are the heart of this program and the reason for its existence. Our core mission in university programs could not be more simple - prepare students to be leaders in service when they graduate. We've introduced you to these students and shown you what they are up to in both their regular operations and at their graduation.

As we started looking at what our graduates of the last several years have been up to, we were excited to find that they have continued their service: 35% now serve as "Americas Volunteer Guardians" in the USCG Auxiliary, 41% have completed Officer Candidate School and gone on to serve on active duty in the Coast Guard, and 24% have joined one of the Department of Defense services. One just began a Masters of Public Administration (MPA) program with a concentration in non-profit management, at least one is in law school, another transferred to the Coast Guard Academy, and yet another opted to enlist in the Marine Corps.

This is incredible news for our young program, and I couldn't be happier. Each of these graduates have come from The Citadel or The College of William and Mary - two schools of very different flavor now united by this common initiative. The Citadel is "The Military College of South Carolina," while William and Mary -- the nation's second oldest college -- has become known in recent times for its students engaged with service engagement with communities around the world, overseas service trips, graduates entering Teach for America, the Peace Corps, and public service elsewhere. I find that the Coast Guard Auxiliary's University Program is a good fit at both, and I am excited for the graduates that these respective programs are producing.

USCG Auxiliary conference makes for a great week, with good news for University Programs

2010-08-31T14:29:00.002-04:00

I urged you to "Meet the New Face of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary" in a post last week before I left for the National Conference (NACON) in Arizona. I also promised to provide updates via this blog while I was away, so I must now apologize that the days' schedules did not permit much downtime for writing. It was great to see and catch up with shipmates -- both auxiliary and active duty, those at the "deckplate" all the way to the Commandant -- from around the country.

The event, as written up on the Coast Guard Compass, offered an opportunity to meet the Auxiliary's incoming senior leadership, and to learn more about developments in capabilities, operations, and force readiness. One particularly exciting item is the coming ability of the Auxiliary's response teams to draw circles around chosen geographic areas and locate equipment, units, personnel and (most intriguing in my view) specific skills for use and deployment in time of need. The system will, once implemented, enable the Coast Guard to better utilize doctors and medics in the wake of hurricanes, floods and earthquakes, or to call on pollution specialists in response to oil spills or other similar environmental disasters. It doesn't take much imagination to conceive of further use for such capability in tapping the skills of more than 30,000 eager volunteers.

My staff in the University Programs Branch had the opportunity to promote that program, and its stand up over the last several years, during two formal presentations, a briefing for the Commandant, and small group discussions with folks from around the Coast Guard and around the country. We were able to tell a good story - I think, for example, that it surprised people to learn that 35% of our graduates have continued their Auxiliary service, while 41% have gone on to complete USCG active duty Officer Candidate School or enlist in the USCG Reserve, and 24% have joined one of the four Department of Defense services. We will be making several exciting program announcements over the next several days and weeks at www.cgauxedu.us and on my blog at www.andrewdwelch.com. I will also post a compendium of those developments on www.CGBlog.org after they have all been distributed via the sites above.

I finally want to thank some of the people that made NACON such a successful week from where I sit: Admiral Papp and his staff for taking such an interest in our work; the University Programs students, instructors, and staff for giving us such a great story to tell (and Tom Nunes, Judy Darby, Penny Bailey, and Phil Bailey on the Public Affairs team that help us tell that story); Commodores McElroy and Laurino for their support over the last several years; and Auxiliarists such as Vincent Pica, Wilson Riggan, Brett Bigelow, and Beth Timmons who do the service's great work at all levels, day in and day out. Thank you all for your support and for your service, and thank you for a great week.

Meet the new face of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary

2010-08-25T12:02:00.000-04:00

They are great people, rising leaders on their campus and in the world beyond; and just like generations that have preceded them, these college students are out getting it done, performing the mission as a part of their Coast Guard Auxiliary training and education, and renewing the spirit of service to which "Americas Volunteer Guardians" have been called for more than seventy-one years.

I wrote in May of the graduations celebrated by U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary students at The Citadel and The College of William and Mary. Tomorrow I travel with others from the University Programs Branch to Scottsdale, Arizona for the USCG Auxiliary National Conference (NACON), where we will spend several days promoting these campus based initiatives, and working with partners from across the service to open up new opportunities for these great student leaders.

From the University Programs website:

Safety. Security. Marine environmental protection. Humanitarian assistance. Homeland security. Service to others—in our communities, across the nation, and around the world. These are the things that Coast Guard Auxiliarists put first every day, the missions that these uniformed civilian volunteers have tirelessly performed for over seventy years. Our campus-based detachments prepare the best, brightest, and most talented college students for success in service to their community and country—inside and outside of the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

A new and unique concept for the Auxiliary, the program has already paid dividends on both the "silver" and "gold" sides. Alex Wright graduated in 2009 from The College of William and Mary, transferred to Flotilla Northern Virginia, and has begun stellar post-graduate Auxiliary service as that unit's training officer and a small boat crewman. Greg Snow graduated several years ago from The Citadel, completed USCG Officer Candidate School shortly thereafter, and is now stationed as an Ensign on active duty in Puerto Rico. Two stories among the several early successes that graduates have gone on to, I am hopeful that they will become the first of many in a long line of service in the Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary.

We'll be blogging on my site, www.andrewdwelch.com, and on CGBlog.org (as appropriate) as things unfold at NACON, particularly insofar as our University Programs initiatives are concerned. We have also launched the official University Programs website at www.cgauxedu.us, and on Twitter @cgauxedu. I hope that you will keep up while we are in Arizona, and follow along as we move forward with the new academic semester getting underway this month.

The curse of "busy" (and why it's better to be "productive")

2010-08-18T12:35:00.001-04:00

I have been thinking lately about people that are always in motion, but seem to get very little accomplished in proportion to the amount of time they spend working. Everyone knows the type -- perhaps you are the type -- and if so, my thoughts here should be taken as an attempt at insight, not insult. Lots of work and very little accomplished is an easy trap to fall into...

Most of us call it being "busy".

Busy: a loathsome word, not because there is anything wrong with it on face, but because so many people use it as an excuse for why they can't get anything done, why they aren't effective as workers, leaders, and even as friends.

"How are you?"

"I'm busy."

Unacceptable answer. "Busy" is not a a state or condition, it isn't even an accomplishment, and too often it is the the rationalization of people subconsciously seeking to excuse their ineffectiveness or to appear more important than they are. Cafe Press has an amusing line of tee-shirts that nicely sums up this phenomenon.

Wouldn't you rather be happy, or maybe productive? Even tired is better than busy because its remedy is a simple nap. The trouble with busy is that it forces one to examine what they are spending their time doing, and to ask whether they are actually being effective doing it.

This morning someone sent me a blog post by Rosetta Thurman, whose blog seeks to promote "now generation leadership for social change." Ms. Thurman's post, Why Most Nonprofit Resumes Suck (and How to Fix Them), runs afoul of the prevailing mindset the afflicts the otherwise highly motivated and talented "Millennial Generation." She challenges young applicants to non-profit jobs (I find this to be sound advice in business and government as well) to focus on accomplishments, not on duties.

In other words, nobody cares if you were on a committee, or were in charge of a process, or were in some other way busy or self-important. Lots of people are on committees and are "in charge" of something; to stake your reputation on such pursuits is to add to the blather that characterizes an entire class of "busy" that, far as the discerning observer can tell, work long and accomplish little.

I, and I wager to say others, care far more about the fruits of your labor, on what you actually accomplished in the situation you were in, not on what your assigned duties were while they were there.

It is a difficult, sometimes self deprecating task indeed to examine your own life, your own work, your own relationships and ask "Am I contributing something of value here? Am I truly good at what I do? If not, how can I turn it around?"

Be productive. Then be happy with your real, meaningful, substantive accomplishments.

...And by all means, stop telling people that you're "busy" when they ask how you are.

Red Cross says "Web Users Increasingly Rely on Social Media to Seek Help in a Disaster"

2010-08-10T12:25:00.001-04:00

I read this today, "Web Users Increasingly Rely on Social Media to Seek Help in a Disaster," and wondered:

Is emergency/disaster response listening to these channels, or more appropriately, does sufficient technical infrastructure and best practice exist to answer the call?
Is this a realistic expectation on the part of those potentially in need of assistance?
How did we get here?

Of course my last question is more musing, because frankly it doesn't matter how we got here so much as it does that this is the reality, and emergency response may face a growing dilemma of having to figure out a way to listen, or miss the cries for help that those organizations exist to serve.

These findings reminded me of how Coast Guard Auxiliary Public Affairs Officers used social media to go above and beyond offering assistance to Haiti earlier this year, and of the article I read last year about the girls trapped in a storm drain using Facebook to call for help. To be honest, I thought it was ridiculous when I heard about the girls trapped in the drain, but now as I think of folks that always opt for Facebook over a phone call -- the generations, new technology, and "brain wiring" that we discussed a while back -- that story doesn't seem quite as shocking. Finally, I think of the article my friend and colleague Steve Pegram wrote for the International Association of Emergency Managers several months ago, "Power of Volunteers and Social Media in Disaster: Lessons Learned From Haiti."

It seems that we have an emerging theme here. The Red Cross's take is below. My question remains, is emergency response ready for this emerging cultural norm, and if not, what can those in that community do to take on the challenge?

WASHINGTON, Monday, August 09, 2010 — A new American Red Cross survey shows many web users would turn to social media to seek help for themselves or others during emergencies—and they expect first responders to be listening.

The online survey asked 1,058 adults about their use of social media sites in emergency situations. It found that if they needed help and couldn’t reach 9-1-1, one in five would try to contact responders through a digital means such as e-mail, websites or social media. If web users knew of someone else who needed help, 44 percent would ask other people in their social network to contact authorities, 35 percent would post a request for help directly on a response agency’s Facebook page and 28 percent would send a direct Twitter message to responders.

Web users also have clear expectations about how first responders should be answering their requests. The survey showed that 69 percent said that emergency responders should be monitoring social media sites in order to quickly send help—and nearly half believe a response agency is probably already responding to any urgent request they might see.

And the survey respondents expected quick response to an online appeal for help—74 percent expected help to come less than an hour after their tweet or Facebook post.

“The first and best choice for anyone in an emergency situation is to call 9-1-1,” said Gail McGovern, American Red Cross president and CEO. “But when phone lines are down or the 9-1-1 system is overwhelmed, we know that people will be persistent in their quest for help and use social media for that purpose.”

The Red Cross commissioned the survey in advance of an Emergency Social Data Summit set for Thursday, August 12, in Washington, D.C. The meeting, convened by the Red Cross, will bring together thought leaders and experts in the government, social media, emergency response and the non-profit sectors to discuss better ways to handle information that flows through the web during disasters.

“The social web is creating a fundamental shift in disaster response—one that will ask emergency managers, government agencies and aid organizations to mix time-honored expertise with real-time input from the public,” McGovern said. “We need to work together to better respond to that shift.”

The Red Cross survey also found that among web users, social media sites are the fourth most popular source for emergency information, just behind television news, radio and online news sites. More web users say they get their emergency information from social media than from a NOAA weather radio, government website or emergency text message system. One in five social media users also report posting eyewitness accounts of emergency events to their accounts.

(Editorial Note: Please contact the Red Cross media team at (202) 303-5551 for more information about the Emergency Social Data Summit or to speak with an expert about the survey.)

Online Survey of 1,058 respondents representative of the U.S. population aged 18 and older. Survey conducted on July 22-23, 2010 by Infogroup | ORC.

Mobile musings and my tacit endorsement of the iPhone4

2010-07-21T11:29:00.001-04:00

Several small "phone events" sparked my interest yesterday when they converged in a single afternoon. The first was when I set up my iPhone to sync with my e-mail on the Exchange server at work, a previously impossible task before Apple's iOS4 mercifully came along to allow me to use the Exchange protocol to sync both my personal Gmail and work accounts. Good stuff.

The second was a trip to my local (and I may add, very well run) Radio Shack, where I took a minute to peruse the latest cell phones to hit the market. Frankly, I could care less, because I can't imagine ever replacing my iPhone... but I was surprised to note how increasingly difficult it is to actually find a model that is not a smartphone. What was, just 18 or 24 months ago, a luxury for folks willing to spend hundreds on a phone has now become the norm. I am routinely in the company of entire groups of folks with not a standard phone (you know, the ones that just make phone calls) among us.

I am reminded of an article by Carolyn Friedman that I was sent last month, "10 Seriously Cool Predictions for the Future of Your Cell Phone". I frankly disagree with some of her assertions, but overall I think she puts together a nice education for folks that don't spend a lot of their free time pondering the future of their cell phones.

I remember when I was in school I had a teacher excitedly tell us how the Texas Instruments graphing calculator was a "pocket computer." Seems quaint now, doesn't it?

For me, vacation is coming up soon, and somehow that time just several years back when I managed to respond to a new business inquiry, direct a technical repair to a remote sever (I do not miss the days when I worked in IT, by the way), and dock a recreational boat all in a five minute span using my old Blackberry doesn't seem that remarkable anymore. Some might argue that my iPhone keeps my chained the the office, but I have come to think that its mobile power sets me free from work every now and then. I'd rather take a call from my boat than from my desk.

Alas, the last month has been abuzz with grief over the iPhone4's reception issues. I had mine in hand by 09:30 on the first day, and was miserable at first. Once 1.7 million new phones had been attached to the AT&T network inside of three days, though, things mellowed out. I don't love the new iPhone for some reason, but I definitely have found it to be the best thing going today... certainly better than those "smartphones" that I got to play with at Radio Shack yesterday.

USCG Commandant shares guidance on officer selection with active duty, reserve, auxiliary, and civilian personnel

2010-07-07T12:47:00.002-04:00

Admiral Papp (Commandant, USCG) distributed guidance on Coast Guard officer selection in an e-mail yesterday, and urged all hands to take note:

"I want our entire workforce - officers, enlisted, civilian and auxiliary - to be aware of the attributes I expect our Officer Corps to strive to attain. Leadership is a bond of trust. I hope to engender trust by sharing insight on my expectations for leaders with all members of our Service."

In reading the six-page document, I couldn't help thinking that, though the guidance was intended for direct application in active duty and reserve officer selection and promotion, its contents can and should be applied much more widely as guidance on leadership. As an Auxiliarist, I believe that our unique system of selection for progressively greater responsibility can benefit tremendously from the consistency that comes from principled guidance such as that which Admiral Papp has promulgated; in the absence of something Auxiliary-specific, we must look elsewhere, so I therefore urge Auxiliary unit commanders and nominating boards to take note and consider your 2011 selections in the context of the Commandant's guidance here. In general, I hope that any of our shipmates -- officer, enlisted, auxiliary, civilian -- aspiring to greater responsibility will give the document due consideration in any Coast Guard setting, for as the Commandant writes:

"We have the honor and privilege of performing meaningful work that is essential to the long term safety and security of our country... demand for our unique capabilities and leadership in responding to these dynamics has never been greater... we must cultivate and promote officers who possess the leadership skills and competencies to achieve mission success... It is our expectation that all officers will demonstrate a commitment to the culture and Core Values of the Coast Guard."

Below I have digested and excerpted pieces of the original document for those not inclined to read in its entirety.

On "Servant Leadership" and "Responsibility, authority, and accountability"
"You should be particularly vigilant in your evaluation ofperfonnance to take note of those who step forward to serve and succeed in positions accompanied by additional risk and rigorous accountability ... Officers who undertake broadening assignments gain invaluable experience and judgment that will pay dividends to our Service in the future ... "Care and concern" is not just humanitarian interest in morale and welfare, it is also the ability to inspire, mentor, and encourage our people to greater levels of performance; to set the bar high ... leaders must display the strength of character to hold subordinates accountable for lapses in performance and/or behavior ... leaders must be mindful ofthe communities, industries, governments, and citizens that we serve ... We need leaders who can sustain key relationships to make our Service more capable and credible in local areas of operation and as well as in the greater maritime domain ... The range ofpartners includes federal, state and local agencies, tribal interests, as well as appropriate academia, industry, non-governmental, sovereign and international entities."

On "Honoring our Profession"
"Officers should select a specialty, and a sub-specialty, and continually work to gain experience, knowledge and proficiency in these areas ... We should promote leaders who demonstrate dedication to professional growth commensurate with their chosen specialty; show evidence of progressive development in their specialty as they ascend in rank ... live by our Core Values of Honor, Respect and Devotion to Duty; seek responsibility, understand their authorities, exercise them judiciously, and ensure accountability ... the Coast Guard needs leaders who are active participants in affinity groups and professional organizations, using knowledge gained there for mentoring and other meaningful measures that foster individual development. We need leaders who strive to create a climate of equity that fosters an envirorunent where all individuals have the opportunity to prosper, advance in their careers and contribute their utmost to Coast Guard missions."

On the consideration and selection of more junior officers
"Look for leadership, accomplishment, and adherence to our Core Values. Discount minor errors, as long as subsequent performance reflects lessons learned ... should he establishing their specialty or are progressively demonstrating technical competence in their specialty ... should also he developing and honing their leadership skills."

On the consideration and selection of more senior officers
"Should he demonstrating evidence of mastery in their specialty and the analytical ability to solve complex challenges ... strong representational, oral and written communication skills ... commitment to the development and well-being of their personnel which may include a record of mentoring others, including reaching out into their field as well as diverse segments of our society ... Evaluate bow they exercise it, and whether they successfully lead teams to accomplish tasks. Look for innovation, vision and adaptability. Look for character and enthusiasm. Look to promote leaders who demonstrate the ability to complete major projects and initiatives vice merely proposing meritorious ideas or promising methodologies ... must also have an understanding of the major issues facing the Coast Guard."

On the consideration and selection of flag officers
"Give particular consideration to officers that stepped forward to take on the most difficult and challenging high-responsibility high-visibility assigrunents and leadership positions ... Required characteristics include: decisive, balanced and strategic decision making; poise, knowledge and presence that advances the reputation and excellence of our Service; political understanding, savvy and ability to impact national-level policy making as an advocate of our Service; demonstrated sound stewardship for public resources; and finally, humility...the basic characteristic of a servant leader ... We need our flag officers to be those recognized leaders with impeccable Service reputations and with whom subordinates, peers and seniors seek to serve. They must have a passion for our Service, clear conviction of purpose and the demonstrated ability to act in a collegial manner."

My final thought: Strong and much appreciated guidance wherever, however, and whenever you serve. Strive to meet the standard, and support others around you so that they can do the same.

Independence Day reflection - A holiday for all Americans

2010-07-02T13:14:00.000-04:00

Friends, Family, Shipmates, Colleagues:

Independence Day weekend is upon us, and I want to wish you, your families, and friends a happy and safe couple of days. Earlier today I sent messages to my teams both at my day job at USIS and in the Coast Guard Auxiliary, so I also want to share the spirit of those messages with you.

The recent weeks have been challenging for many of you I know. Some of you have faced much activity at work, students and teachers have finished spring sessions and have begun several months of life in other pursuits, Coasties work around the clock battling oil in the Gulf of Mexico (and CGBlog.org tells the story) while those Auxiliarists in Flotilla Arlington | Northern Virginia are working hard to train and qualify an influx of new people and the largest group of new small boat crew trainees in recent memory. My staff in the University Programs Branch has been working hard as well to support the dedicated instructors and students around the country and to prepare programs to launch at new schools. My friends at Whitecoat Strategies have hit the road telling the story of science while my friends at Decisions for Heroes have made great improvements to the way they help rescue teams save lives around the world. Everywhere I look, the community of friends, family, shipmates, and colleagues that I am so privileged to be a part of and who make up the community around this blog are doing really great things. The world is remarkable.

Everyone does what they do for different reasons, but in talking with many of you it becomes clear that you count love of country, compassion for the people of the world, and devotion to duty among your personal motivations. We each come from different places and different backgrounds. Unlike Memorial Day, Labor Day, or Veterans Day, honoring the fallen, the workers, and the returned heroes respectively, the holiday we celebrate this weekend is one that we Americans own together (and we invite others around the world to celebrate with us). I wish you the best as you honor it, enjoy it, and spend it with family and the best of friends.

It is a beautiful day in Virginia, so go out and take advantage. My two requests are that you be safe, and help to pass the spirit of this message to all with whom you serve and celebrate.

As always, please be in touch, and thank you for your service!

"Thirty years of Apple in two minutes" brings back childhood (and more recent) memories

2010-06-28T23:00:00.001-04:00

I have to thank Dave Caolo at "The Unofficial Apple Weblog" (aka "TUAW") for sharing this video today. It's a quick, probably rather pointless video, but with the hype surrounding Apple's launch of the iPhone4 last week, I found this a very interesting look back at the last 30 years of history. It also brought back many memories of the nine Apple desktops and laptops that I have had over the years. Enjoy...

Coast Guard Auxiliary turns 71, deploys to the Gulf of Mexico

2010-06-25T12:50:00.000-04:00

What a week for the demands of my day job to have taken me away from writing. The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary celebrated its 71st Birthday this past Wednesday, June 23, 2010. I spent that evening reviewing charting techniques and problems with our new boat crew trainees, followed up afterwards with a celebratory drink across the street. Celebrations and milestones there may be, but our work never ceases.

...And the work goes on in the Gulf of Mexico, where on Tuesday -- the day before the Auxiliary's birthday -- Admiral Salerno released a message calling Auxiliarists to 30 day assignments supporting the Coast Guard's response to the "oil spill" there. The message assures that Auxiliarists will be "incorporated into the Coast Guard long-term Deepwater Horizon response strategy," but that there is an immediate need for Trident qualified and Incident Command knowledgable Auxiliarists to step up now. Personnel with qualifications as Pollution Investigators, Pollution Response Specialists, Prevention Outreach Specialists, Marine Safety Watchstanders, and those possessing Incident Command System (ICS) course completions have been specifically called on. I encourage all to read the message distributed on June 22 and act accordingly.

The men and women of the Coast Guard Auxiliary have answered the call for seventy-one years, but we are now called to do so in ways previously unimagined. Unique in history, volunteer lifesavers, Guardians, honored by their country's uniform, the coming months and years will call us to new missions, new expectations that will truly test our Devotion to Duty as we continue to modernize our structure, our model of training and force readiness, and as we recruit, educate, and train a new generation of America's Volunteer Guardians. There is great work ahead in the Gulf of Mexico, around the country, and around the world.

The Commandant, Admiral Papp, wrote of the Auxiliary's birthday this week...

"Over the past year, the Auxiliary has set the standard for organizational resilience and continuous improvement... it broadened its capabilities through a major expansion of its Trident program to provide greater support for the Coast Guard’s marine safety mission, the innovative application of social media and language interpretation skills to support rescue operations following the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and the formalization of the Auxiliary’s chef program to better support Coast Guard food service personnel. More recently, Auxiliarists have served in a range of capacities in support of Deepwater Horizon Spill Response operations, including over 5,000 hours checking the readiness of vessels participating in clean-up operations, monitoring deployed booms, supporting the area command center, and assisting with public affairs."

Admiral Salerno wrote...

"Coast Guard Auxiliarists have answered the call for 71 years, but non have been as uniquely challenging as this assignment [in the Gulf of Mexico]. Your consideration and concerted effort as shipmates in answering this bell are already appreciated and admired. Semper Paratus."

Indeed, as Admiral Papp concluded, "Our shipmates, the Coast Guard Auxiliary, have performed superbly, always standing a taut watch and exemplifying our core values. Please join me in recognizing their superb dedication by celebrating their seventy-first anniversary with your local Auxiliarists."

To the Auxiliary, happy birthday, and to all: thank you for your

Generations, New Technology, and Brain Wiring: The "Mutants"

2010-06-18T13:31:00.000-04:00

How does our childhood brain wiring influence our embrace of new technology and the way we communicate?

Put another way, "Are you a social networking mutant?"

Such was the question posed in a great, thought provoking commentary I read last week on CIO.com. Mike Elgan suggests that any person right now under the age of 20, born 1990 or later, grew up in a world where instant messaging, cellular phones, social media, and related technologies were ubiquitous; that their brains have been hard wired to conceptualize communications as a sort of real-life Facebook news feed. By contrast, any person right now over the age of 60 might use or even embrace the Internet, but do so in a way that their brains were hard wired to manage in an earlier age. These folks love e-mail because it is really just a faster version of the postal system of old; they might print their digital photos, and when they do text, it will often be simply to say "call me." Elgan writes...

"Many people over 60 established very early on a clear understanding about communication: There are two kinds. The first is one-to-one and private. Letters, phone calls, telegrams. The second is one-to-many and public. TV, radio. A person with this hardwiring has no trouble with e-mail, which is understood to be an electronic version of the postal system. They also have no problem with YouTube, which is viewed as an Internet version of TV, more or less. When some older people try to mentally grasp Facebook... It's neither one-to-one nor one-to-many. Facebook communication is any-to-any. Any number of people (individuals or groups) are communicating to any number of other people. And is it public or private? Who is seeing this? So other people see what I see, but also they don't? Facebook's fundamental structure is incompatible with mental hardwiring about communications media.

"Not using Facebook is similarly disorienting to teens, and always will be -- even when they get old. People younger than 20 were born more recently than 1990. That means one of the first objects they recognized as toddlers was the personal computer. By the time they were old enough to talk to grandma on the telephone, they did so with a cell phone. By the age of 12, they started begging their parents for a cell phone capable of Internet connectivity and texting ('Everybody else has one!! Pleeeeease!'). They had already been using AIM on their PCs for years. Kids under 20 have been hardwired with a new understanding about communication. It's pervasive, mobile and any-to-any. Is it public? Private? Whatever. There's so much of it that nobody cares. I just want to talk to my friends any time I want.

"People older than 60 tend to be Real World People. They're comfortable with technology as long as it correlates with objects in the real world. They use e-mail to say, 'call me.' If you send them an electronic photo, they want to print it out. Experiences are validated only by being there in person. 'Social' means face-to-face.

"People under 20 are Virtual World People. They're comfortable with the real world as long as it's augmented by digital technology. They use the phone to say, 'text me.' If you give them a paper photo they like, they ask for the digital version. Experiences are validated only by sharing electronically. 'Social' means online."

So the generational differences we see may not be the result of stubborn, stuck in their ways old folks or rebellious, self-entitled kids? Interesting... but what about those of us in the forty-year generation gap between ages twenty and sixty? Elgan postulates that we are the mutants, the only generation hitherto or henceforth to have been gradually introduced to new communications technology as it came to market throughout the course of our working lives, and therefor the only generation to have had time to gradually integrate these new paradigms into our mental hard wiring. We love our iPhones, but we remember thinking to ourselves, "phones would be so much more convenient if I didn't have to look through this paper address book and then dial it into the keypad" (and then being far to excited when someone invented a way for us to no longer have to do that, a memory that I guarantee my nieces do not have). We are the social networking mutants, experienced in the arts of letter writing and status updating, as Elgan writes...

"People between the ages of 20 and 60 are unique in human history... We have the mental wiring of both Real World and Virtual World Peoples. We're a transitional 'generation,' and the only ones in human history generally capable of fully enjoying Facebook and also functioning without Facebook.

"The reason is that we had time to adjust. When we were young children, there was no cell phone usage, social networking, chatting, massively multi-player online games or texting in our environment. We were taken step-by-step through the development of pervasive technology, one product or service at a time. Our first cell phone barely did anything. When we were introduced to instant messaging and texting, it was socially optional. Communication in our lifetimes evolved gradually from analog to digital to what we now call social, meaning communication enhanced by software that facilitates human connection. In fact, we are and will be the only 'generation' in human history with the luxury of being slowly and gradually introduced to computer-enhanced living."

I find the entire proposition to be fascinating and insightful, particularly when I look at my immediate peers (which I will roughly define as anyone aged 21-40) and see some of them toting their paper day planners, making little notes here and there to "call Andrew," and others so plugged in that you know they would greet with elation a little chip, implantable in the brain, that would allow them to broadcast a message to their "friends" just be thinking about it. Considering the whole thing suddenly allays some of my frustration with the old folks who "just don't get it" and the young folks who tell that "e-mail is for old people;" It makes me wonder how posterity will define our generation.

Coast Guard Foundation asks you to "Make an Impact"

2010-06-15T18:47:00.001-04:00

When Deadliest Catch runs at 7pm and 11pm this evening (Tuesday, June 15) on the Discovery Channel, it will be accompanied by a really well-done 75-second public service announcement featuring the work of the Coast Guard Foundation in "rescuing the rescuers."

The video asks you to visit http://www.rescuetherescuers.org/, but viewers can also make a $10 donation by texting the word RESCUER to 50555. Interestingly, I do not recall the Foundation having made such a public appeal in the past. I am pleased that this one is well produced quality befitting the organization it represents. Have a look.

Power of Volunteers and Social Media in Disaster: Lessons Learned From Haiti

2010-06-11T13:33:00.000-04:00

I have been meaning to share an article that my friend and colleague, Steve Pegram, published in the May 2010 Bulletin of the International Association for Emergency Managers. I discussed this topic earlier this year, and Steve's article also appeared on the website of the USCG Auxiliary's University Programs Branch -- but I find the points worth making, and I appreciate his insight.

By Steve Pegram, CEM, Branch Chief – RIS, Incident Management Systems, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary

What is Social Media?

Social media is a category of sites based on user participation and user-generated content that allows individuals and groups to publish content and engage in peer-to-peer conversations.

Put simply, social media are tools, often mobile, that allow people to communicate globally in real time.

Some examples of social media include:

Facebook – more than 350 million users.
Twitter – 20 million tweets per month; 23 million people are signed on to receive Tweets from government entities.
Flickr – more than 2 billion images.
Google – captures every image posted publicly on the Internet.
YouTube – half a billion views per day
Social media has been a prominent feature of many recent events, from the rioting in post-election
Iran, to the ditching of US Airways Flight 1549, to the recent earthquakes in Haiti.

Utilizing Social Media to Save Lives in Haiti

Let’s take a look at how one all-volunteer organization, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, utilized social media to save lives in Haiti.

Volunteer Auxiliarists were deployed to the Joint Information Center (JIC) in Miami, Fla. Simultaneously, a virtual JIC was established to monitor social media for intelligence on the evolving situation.
Auxiliary Linguists monitored transmissions in English, Spanish, French and Creole from their home offices in Florida, Louisiana and Illinois. This intelligence was shared with the rest of the team operating out of the Miami JIC, to assist with the analysis of the communications traffic.
A Distress SMS Short Code (4636) was established to allow Haitians to send distress messages via SMS text. The short code was sent to every cell phone on the Haitian wireless network.
Data from such disparate sources as traditional media, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), various social media, the Distress SMS Short Code, and other U.S. federal government agencies was collected and analyzed. Included in this analysis were more than 15,000 social media messages, more than 6,000 distress SMS Short Code messages, and 3,000 SAR (search and rescue) requests.

The Results Speak for Themselves

The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary analysts used this information to generate 300 action requests that resulted in more than 10,000 people being assisted. Think about that for a moment. A group of highly trained, skilled and dedicated volunteers used emergent intelligence from social media sources to parse information from well over 30,000 bits of data, to provide assistance to more than 10,000 people thousands of miles away.

Smart phones, the Internet and social media provide business continuity professionals and emergency managers with unprecedented opportunities to interact quickly and directly with millions. Combining the dedication and skills of volunteers with social media technology adds a new and powerful dimension to the response options for agencies and organizations. And the best part is that all of
this is available to you for virtually no cost.

If you’re one of us “old school” emergency managers – I’m certainly in that boat, as I’ve been in this profession for more than 30 years – and you haven’t embraced this new technology or think that volunteers are too much trouble to coordinate, I urge you to think about what some Web 2.0 savvy volunteers were able to accomplish to help the people of Haiti during their hour of need. And then, consider how to harness this power to help your constituents during a crisis.

D4H offers safety and emergency teams a better way to plan and execute their operational mission

2010-06-10T13:53:00.000-04:00

I have written about Decisions for Heroes (D4H) before. Visionary founder Robin Blandford guest blogged for me earlier this year, and then I highlighted his trip to the National Search and Rescue Conference in mid-May. To be clear, I am not generally in the business of product promotion, but what D4H portends for search and rescue, emergency response, and any organization or team in a similar business... well, it's too impressive to be ignored.

So what is D4H? Mr. Blandford explains himself...

"Decisions For Heroes is a web application that saves lives, it does this by helping rescue teams record and analyze their rescue operations and training. We perform automatic analysis of your incidents to look for patterns and trends in your response times, injuries encountered, casualty demographics, with hotspot cluster mapping to identify areas at higher risk. Track and record qualifications and exercises and receive alerts when these qualifications are set to expire. Keep a records of skills used by members on incidents and monitor training history."

Frankly, I think Mr. Blandford understates his own product's significance (by the way, this is a passion he knows from his own experience serving in the Irish Coast Guard).

Now I fully understand that large, technologically sophisticated organizations possess already well-established systems for operations, personnel, training, and reporting management. This will be D4H's great market challenge. To those organizations, though, I say this: while D4H may not be on your shopping list, its technical and design features are not to be cast aside -- indeed, they could very well show you what you are missing.

Remember, though, that I write from the perspective of a Coast Guard Auxiliarist. We have a dedicated and hard work technology shop, but D4H is an excellent candidate to step up and meet the needs of many Flotillas and Divisions. I also see the potential for great use of the program in fire departments, emergency medical and rescue squads, and citizen response and emergency organizations everywhere.

Software should not be less for its features (You can read all about those on the Decisions for Heroes website) and more for what those features actually mean to an operational team, as learned through my personal experience having pressed it into use over the last several months in USCG Auxiliary Flotilla Arlington | Northern Virginia.

Operational Focus
Our team has focused more on operations and training through exercises and in the classroom since we started using D4H. The system forces us to really consider where we are spending our time and resources because it places operations -- not administration -- at the forefront. We know what is upcoming, what is behind us, where we are spending our time geographically, and (to a very great degree) what we are training to do and whether or not those skills are being used in actual operations.

Team Coordination
Hitherto, planning ahead has required a lot of manual labor on the part of the person in charge. Planning an exercise or training, coordinating among participants, tracking attendance, and after action reporting are well ingrained facts of life that D4H streamlines. The planner can now schedule an event, providing details such as time, location, materials, reporting instructions, or uniform of the day. Skills and topics can be assigned to the event (so that you can track what you are training on against what you are doing during real missions), and individual personnel or entire groups can be assigned (or invited in the case of optional events). Assignments then automatically appear on an individuals calendar, and a weekly briefing containing those assignments is automatically emailed to all hands to start the week. You can assign resources (boats, vehicles, gear, etc) to each event so as to track resource utilization, track maintenance tasks against those resources, and assign qualifications and "on call" status to individual personnel (allowing you to know instantly when, for example, you have less than two coxswains, four emergency medical personnel, or whatever combination you choose available). Neat, right?

After Action Reporting and Intelligence
Individual personnel assigned to each mission can provide after action information, and the official record contains information as detailed as weather conditions, wind direction, casualties, persons assisted, lives saved, and lessons learned. Attendance reports are necessary, but quaint when you consider that D4H automatically generates reports on time to scene, miles traveled, attendance over time, qualifications requiring refresher training, geographic distribution, and a number more. There is enough here to provide the team insight on future operations, and the most information-starved administrative type with reams of data to chew through.

There is more, but these are the three "big wins" that we have uncovered since we began using D4H. This system -- and the planning and operational concepts that it promotes -- is a winner and a blessing to teams and units the world over.

Three more years of humble, wise, and steady leadership for The College of William and Mary

2010-06-07T13:06:00.000-04:00

The contract of College President Taylor Reveley was quietly renewed through June 2013 in the midst of graduation festivities at The College of William and Mary last month. Old news? Perhaps, but President Reveley is the ultimate understated guy, offering humble, wise, and steady leadership to a place and community very close to my heart and those of many who I know read this blog. Indeed, Brian Whitson of WM News quotes Reveley as saying, "William and Mary is a university of extraordinary caliber, rich in accomplishment and potential. I'm truly privileged to help lead it.” From the article...

"A priority from the beginning, Reveley said, has been building a more stable financial foundation for the next century. To that end, the president oversaw the College’s most successful private fund-raising year ever in 2008-09 when William and Mary topped $50 million. In addition, he steered the College through the speed bumps of the national economic crisis, including a reduction of 32 percent (or $16.7 million) in state operating dollars over the past two years.

"Over the past 27 months, Reveley has also been the catalyst in a number of key efforts, including the search for a new provost, two vice presidents and a new law dean; improved outreach to strengthen lifelong ties with alumni; as well as progress in William and Mary’s communications efforts, including chairing the College’s senior communications committee. The president even found time to launch a process that brought Tribe faithful a new mascot, the Griffin."

Shame on the Commonwealth of Virginia for undervaluing its universities in allocating budget -- if the trend were only the result of a weak economy, I would have greater sympathy, but state budget cuts to a truly great system of public universities have been a trend for years.

...And while I wrote of my loathing the Griffin mascot before and after its final selection, it is but a transitory symbol of a historic institution rich in more appropriate imagery. The real reason I so admire President Reveley's leadership?

"Rector Wolf said Reveley’s extended three-year contract is effective July 1, 2010. The president’s salary, he added, remains at $332,100 and his annual deferred compensation will continue to be $62,000.

"'President Reveley asked the Board not to increase his compensation,' said Rector Wolf. 'His salary is still where it was in November 2007, before he became interim president. The president was not willing to have a raise until other people at William and Mary can get raises. He said 'We need them for everyone.''"

While still a pretty penny, there is something refreshing about a leader who expects more for those he leads before securing more for himself; I find it to be often uncommon wisdom with which we can't go wrong. Thank you for your service, President Reveley, and for your stewardship of a place loved by so many.

The best of "Hi, I'm a Mac," and why I'll miss those ads

2010-06-04T12:29:00.000-04:00

The tragic (though perhaps timely) passing of the culturally iconic "Mac vs PC" ("Hi, I'm a Mac") advertising campaign may have gotten lost in the hype surrounding the iPad, the buzz about a new iPhone likely on its way, and Apple's finally overtaking Microsoft as America's most valuable tech company last week. I call the retiring of this five-year-old ad campaign tragic because, to be honest, the commercials amused me -- and to go a bit deeper, they were not only fine examples of advertising, but I think that they really spoke to our desire for technology that works for us, that is fun, that makes life better.

Your thoughts on Admiral Papp's "Guiding Principles" for the Coast Guard (and others)

2010-06-02T14:45:00.000-04:00

Admiral Papp, the new Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, has spent the last week outlining the "guiding principles" that he hopes to define and guide his leadership over the next four years. CGBlog.org has also been the forum for great discussions about our identity and culture as a service (Searching for a Mission-Oriented Identity, Why I hope we go with the term "Guardian," and Can we build a shared experience? are all thought provoking reads).

In the midst of the group soul searching that invariably accompanies the transition from one leader (Commandant, CEO, President, General, etc) to another, I hope that all have taken a moment to internalize Admiral Papp's "guiding principles," pondering what exactly they mean for you, your unit, your corner of the service (active duty, reserve, auxiliary, civilian), and -- perhaps most importantly -- how you will live them and put them into practice. I am eager for your thoughts, should you care to share, on the principles as listed below.

I am also curious, should anyone from outside the Coast Guard be reading, for your thoughts on these principles in your own work. The Commandant's below are adapted to the USCG, but their themes transcend time and application. How do you steady your organization, honor your profession, strengthen your partnerships, and respect your colleagues?

Steady the Service – I am committed to focusing on our core roles and missions as defined in Pub One. To reduce stress on our Service and maintain the highest level of readiness we must emphasize our statutory missions, finish organizational realignment and prioritize demands for our services within the budget. We must continue to pursue replacement assets for the future. We must return to a sustainable state.

Honor our Profession – I am committed to professional service by demonstrating the highest competence in execution and support of our varied missions. At all times, we are a military organization guided by responsibility, authority and accountability. Mission excellence is our north star. Honoring our Profession requires inspired leadership to develop knowledge, skills, pride and experience, in a nurturing environment, built from a foundation of clear doctrine and training. I will not ask you to do more than our resources allow, but we must do our absolute best with what we have.

Strengthen our Partnerships – I am committed to partnerships. They are a force multiplier. As demand for our Service continues to expand, and the threats in the maritime environment increase in complexity, a unilateral approach will not be the best or the most efficient means to achieve mission success. We can be more effective and provide greater value to our country when we forge partnerships with local, state, federal, tribal and international agencies. For the same reasons, strengthening appropriate relationships with private industry is imperative. Ultimately, strong partnerships are critical to enhancing our capability, effectiveness and credibility in the maritime domain.

Respect our Shipmates – I am committed to a climate of care and concern for Shipmates, active, reserve, civilian, auxiliary, families, and retirees, on a daily basis. Our people are the Coast Guard’s greatest asset and our ability to perform our mission ultimately depends on your health, vibrancy, training and capabilities. We must provide the best in human resource management, administrative support, wellness programs and professional development, while maintaining a safe, collaborative and productive work environment. Our Service must also draw strength from the diversity of our Nation. I want the Coast Guard to be recognized as the profession of choice for Americans of all backgrounds.

Memorial Day reflection, that "Our flag will be recognized throughout the world as a symbol of freedom"

2010-06-01T12:25:00.000-04:00

One stone wall of the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC is home to a quote for which we have General George Marshall to be thankful.

"We are determined that before the sun sets on this terrible struggle our flag will be recognized throughout the world as a symbol of freedom on the one hand and of overwhelming force on the other."

On the occasion of yesterday's Memorial Day, 31 May 2010, I had the good fortune to spend a moment contemplating this wall on my visit there.

No single person can account for the actions of an entire nation -- and the governments, agencies, organizations, corporations, and entities thereof -- but as individuals we must be accountable for our own deeds and those of the organizations we touch.

Just as so many that have gone before us have died for our country, so too must each of us now live for our country, for we are capable of no greater honor to those passed than to preserve that for which they bled, no greater dishonor than to wrap ourselves in the cloak of temporal prosperity and carry on as if no further sacrifice would be asked.

I ask, therefore, in the shadow of yesterday's Memorial Day, when life was invigorated by good weather and good friends: Are you living for your country, or for yourself; For the world around you, or the pleasures in your immediate view; For patriotism, or for politics; To serve others, or to serve yourself; So that our flag will be recognized throughout the world as a symbol of freedom, or as a symbol of something else?

This is my Memorial Day wish -- reflection for yourself, prosperity for you to share, and the honor of service so as to leave our neighborhoods, communities, nation, and world better tomorrow than when we enjoyed them yesterday.

National Geographic "Gulf Oil Spill" special highlights tragedy, heroism, and the work yet to come

2010-05-28T15:14:00.002-04:00

National Geographic ran its "Gulf Oil Spill" special last night. I was actually quite pleased with the treatment of the catastrophe's early days, and found it a good explanation for the many people (myself included) who are still asking questions about how exactly things got so bad starting on April 20. I was, however, disappointed with the lack of attention paid to the post-sinking response (probably only about the last 12 minutes of a 1-hour show), but I understand that the response is still too fluid to receive proper justice in a static documentary produced in just the first month following the incident.

The documentary, particularly the first twenty minutes, serves (among other things) as a testament to the great work the Coast Guard does in the face of emergencies like this -- and added bonus on an already well-produced piece.

I've included several videos available on both National Geographic's website and on YouTube. The show next airs Sunday, May 30 at 11:00 (AM) on the National Geographic Channel. It is certainly worth the watch if you have not already seen it.

This week is "National Hurricane Preparedness Week"

2010-05-27T12:00:00.000-04:00

Seems that every day or every week is home to a specific interest (did you know that this week is also National Safe Boating Week?), but I feel this one worth sharing given (1) the potential of hurricanes to cause real devastation in many areas around the country and (2) the tendency that many folks have to not prepare for emergency (any emergency).

This week, May 23-29, is National Hurricane Preparedness Week.

It's critical that we be prepared whether your home risks hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, flooding, or emergencies of a man-made variety. Homeland Security -- and I mean security from natural disaster or terrorism -- really demands that all citizens, not just government agencies and emergency responders, prepare themselves and be a part of the response, even if just taking care of yourself and those close to you. President Barack Obama's National Hurricane Preparedness Week proclamation explains below.

During National Hurricane Preparedness Week, I urge individuals, families, communities, and businesses to take time to plan for the storm season before it begins. While hurricane forecasting has improved, storms may still develop with little warning. For Americans in hurricane-threatened areas, knowledge and preparation are pivotal to ensure emergency readiness and responsiveness. The National Hurricane Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, recommend taking several important steps to ensure safety. These precautions include: developing a family disaster plan; maintaining an emergency supply kit; securing homes, businesses, and belongings; and learning evacuation routes.

I personally place particular emphasis on the emergency supply kit. To get started, consider inventorying the items that you would need if called to go on a moment's notice. Assemble them in a backpack, and keep it in your trunk. If you opt to include perishable items, remember to replace them regularly. Also remember to consider clothing, medications, personal documents, and a means of communications (who likes getting miles down the road and realizing that you forgot your phone charger?) -- items that I feel could be overlooked.

My list above is by no means exhaustive, rather just a point at which to start your thinking. Get prepared today while the sun is out and the breeze is light!

Bidding farewell to Admiral Allen, United States Coast Guard and "America's Admiral"

2010-05-25T12:26:00.000-04:00

As I write this, the leader that one blog yesterday called "America's Admiral," Thad Allen, is being relieved as Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard by Admiral Robert Papp. In the last several minutes, ADM Allen has thanked Secretaries Gates and Napolitano, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and representatives of foreign Coast Guards. He has been awarded the Defense Distinguished Service Medal and the Department of Homeland Security Distinguished Service Medal. Earlier this morning he addressed all of the men and women of the Coast Guard with a message to all hands. Now he addresses the audience.

Of course, I know all of this not because I am present at the event (sadly), but because of the social media blitz surrounding this event. Ironically the result of a culture paradigm -- openness and transparency at the highest levels -- that ADM Allen championed throughout his tenure as Commandant. Indeed, the Admiral has appealed to those he leads as a student of the world as much as a teacher to his juniors, a shipmate as much as a leader, yet seemed to master an art upon which nearly universal judgement has been passed: Admiral Allen is as fine a leader as this country could hope for in a still young yet very challenging new century, having guided his Service through trying times as a servant leader, and leaving it far better than he found it.

He wrote in his farewell message this morning...

"...I encourage each of you to be insatiably curious, to be life-long learners, to look after your shipmates, and, finally, to seize every chance to apply your leadership skills, talent, and competencies when the opportunity presents itself.

"I am incredibly proud of all our active duty members, reservists, civilians and auxiliarists. No matter how fiercely the winds of change swirl around us, our people stabilize the Service. You are America's Maritime Guardians and your country needs you now more than ever. It has been my extraordinary honor to have been your Commandant and I am excited to see where you will take the organization in the future. Fair winds."

Sentiments both warm and encouraging as we bid farewell to a leader so many of us respect, admire, and would follow anywhere. As a Service, we are not greeted by a new Commandant, Admiral Papp, who in typical fashion welcomed the asssembled crowd with his trademark and enthusiastic "Good morning shipmates!" And we don't lose Admiral Allen -- at least not yet -- as he is sent south once again to serve as the National Incident Commander overseeing the response to the Deepwater Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. I cannot imagine a more appropriate "next stop" for the Admiral who rolled up his sleeves to lead us through September 11, Hurricane Katrina, the modernization of America's oldest continually existing sea-going service, and countless other challenges along the way.

From so many of us, thank you for your service, and thank you for inspiring us.

Congratulations to Coast Guard Auxiliary graduates at The College of William and Mary and The Citadel

2010-05-21T12:51:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to the class of 2010 graduates at The College of William and Mary, and most especially to the two members of the class of 2010 from the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Detachment there. The weekend prior, on May 8, five Auxiliarists also graduated from The Citadel. Though I was unable to make south for The Citadel, I was honored to attend ceremonies at William and Mary this past weekend.

Student members of the Detachment at both schools, as well as the one at Auburn University (which had no graduating seniors this year), complete extensive Coast Guard Auxiliary training in addition to their academic studies. Course topics and practical application immerse students in leadership, boat handling, operations across a variety of mission areas, and the Coast Guard itself.

This year's graduates were Alex Wright and David Kraemer. Mr. Kraemer -- a Government and Environmental Policy double major -- concentrated in Marine Safety and Environmental Protection (Prevention), and is notable for having been one of the two student "plank owners" when he and Emily Johnson (class of 2009) were the first to enroll in the new program several years ago. He further distinguished himself through his service as communications services officer in Williamsburg and service as a qualified instructor.

Mr. Wright -- a History and Hispanic Studies double major -- concentrated in boat operations and served as the Detachment's student leader during his senior year, when the unit saw a marked increase in students earning operational qualifications under his leadership. He was recognized during the ceremony for having not only completed the course of study, but also for having completed his crew qualification, and passed the Nav Rules exam and Administrative Procedures Course.

I want also to recognize the graduates from The Citadel, whom I did not have an opportunity to meet as I was unable to make it for their event. They are Patrick Boyle, John Delago, David Graham, Nick Koenig, and Scott Rajnay. They, like their shipmates from William and Mary, are off to great lives of service in and out of the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

The new graduates are pictured in the photo above along with fellow alum Emily Johnson, who returned for the ceremony, myself (far right), and Todd Egnor, the Detachment Leader (officer in charge). Mr. Egnor is one of the finest mariners I know, having accumulated significant sea time training USCG Academy Cadets and Officer Candidates aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Eagle. While he continues to spend summers aboard Eagle, he now spends most of the year working with our student Auxiliarists at William and Mary. He impressed everyone at the ceremony when he spoke of how the first operational mission with an "all Detachment" crew was completed on the James River -- Mr. Egnor served as the Coxswain, while qualified students served as crew. Mr. Egnor and his crew of instructors, along with counterparts Jake Shaw and Bill Riley at Auburn University and The Citadel (respectively) spend countless hours each year working with these students, and they deserve the thanks and respect of our entire service.

Ms. Johnson and I attended the event on behalf of the USCG Auxiliary's University Programs Branch, where we currently work not only to support the operations of existing campus-based Detachments, but also to enhance the program and expand on new campuses.

To The College of William and Mary, my alma mater, thank you for the opportunity to come home. To the students, instructors, staff, university officials, parents, friends, and most especially the graduates that make this new, yet invaluable program such a success - I thank you for your service.

America's Top Military Officer Uses Business (and interdisciplinary thinking) to Boost National Security

2010-05-19T12:54:00.000-04:00

I have grown to appreciate the value of interdisciplinary thinking. Put another way, I have found that my experiences in business, the Coast Guard, education, non-profits, information technology, even retail have together prepared me to better tackle a variety of challenges across industries, organizations, venues.

Of course, I do lament the "managerialist scourge" in any organization. Whether corporate or uniformed, I believe that PowerPoint is making most of us a little more dumb, or perhaps a little less thoughtful, than we were in the past (who needs a thoughtfully argued position penned in the great lost art of writing when we can have a busy "four blocker" that crams as much information possible onto a single screen?) Indeed, I recently wrote in a comment on my own post over at CGBlog.org...

I think that the Coast Guard (and other services in general) need to be wary of turning into pseudo-corporations. I am reminded of Ryan Erickson's humorous post about the “Power Point Ribbon” a while back. I am also reminded of a great article from the November issue of the Naval Institute’s Proceedings magazine. The article was titled “Combating the Managerialist Scourge,” and is sadly members only content. If you are a member, I suggest you go read. The author writes...

“A ridiculously corporate way of thinking pervades not only the mindset but also the language of the modern military. Take ‘The Little Blue Book,’ the Air Force statement of core values. In it are the following exhortations to martial glory: ‘We must focus on providing services and generating products that fully respond to customer wants and anticipate customer needs.’ Further, it explains: ‘Excellence in all we do demands that we aggressively implement policies to ensure the best possible cradle-to-grave management of resources.’ The language of the warrior has been replaced by verbiage gleaned from the corporate world: products, customers, solutions, leveraging, architecting, value-added.”

For all these reasons, I very much appreciate several of the great 21st century, interdisciplinary, thoughtful leaders that punctuate this era, for they have mastered multiple arts and ably applied them to their craft. I think of Apple's Steve Jobs (businessman, artist, technologist), mastermind behind one of America's leading corporations, or the Coast Guard's Thad Allen (mariner, environmentalist, writer), who currently leads the federal response to the gulf oil spill. Today, thanks to a great article in Fast Company, I think of Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Mullen embodies, and stands behind, much of the thinking that I highlighted in my post earlier this year "Proceedings on education and training for leaders, managers, and all those invested in the success of their people." The Fast Company article, "How America's Top Military Officer Uses Business to Boost National Security," explains...

"In a series of conversations with FAST COMPANY in the weeks after the dinner, Mullen -- who likes to say, "The sea is my business" -- detailed for the first time the surprising and eclectic ways in which he is worrying about everybody else's businesses. The first chairman of the Joint Chiefs to have attended Harvard Business School, he has sought the advice of economists, entrepreneurs, not-for-profit executives, even a former Disney Imagineer. With an assist from his Twitter-loving wife, he has become the military's marketer-in-chief. He deploys social media and quiet candor to tackle controversial issues like "don't ask, don't tell" and to strengthen ties between the military that's fighting the wars and the civilians who are paying for them. "It's America's military," he explains, "and America's wars."

"In the private sector, such multidisciplinary outreach may be expected; in the tradition-bound military, it is unorthodox. These tactics have helped a laconic California kid who "just wanted to have a good time" become the top military adviser to the president of the United States and the most influential, provocative, and visible chairman of the Joint Chiefs since Colin Powell. And they have made Admiral Mullen not just a new model for military officers -- and a new kind of business titan -- but also a case study in 21st-century leadership."

I recommend a thorough read, as Admiral Mullen's approach to strategy, operations, and big picture interdisciplinary thinking will inform CEO's, Generals, and Senators -- or anyone aspiring to such lofty, or even more modest heights.

New hope for gene therapy and a young boy's fight against blindness

2010-05-17T15:44:00.000-04:00

I love the work that the folks at WHITECOAT Strategies do, "telling the story of science," in ways that, according to CEO and Producer David Welch, offer "Excitement and drama, compelling heroes, and yes, a little romance." I highlighted a piece of their video work a while back in my post "What Nutragenomics, custom Nikes, and ordering take out tell us about American political life," and in today's "why do you serve" post, I'd like to call attention to their latest story of gene therapy and a young boy's fight against blindness.

Welch recently offered a producer's cut and explained why he serves -- why the work of science, biotechnology, and medicine is so important -- on the WHITECOAT blog in a post titled "New Hope for Gene Therapy… A Young Boy’s Fight Against Blindness."

"As a producer of science and biotech films I look for three important story elements: Excitement and drama, compelling heroes, and yes, a little romance. This may surprise some people. After all, this is science…not a Lifetime movie. But when we discuss amazing cures for our planet, whether it be in medicine, agriculture or industry, the makings of a really good story are always at hand.

"I am happy to say this short form three minute video has all three elements. What could be more exciting than a biotech cure to a rare genetic disease that had left 9-year-old Corey Haas virtually blind since birth? Or more dramatic than 3-dimensional animation that visually describes Corey’s procedure. Heroes? This video is packed with them. From Dr. Jean Bennett and her clinical trial and surgical team to Dr. Steve Rose and his research colleagues at the Fighting Blindness Foundation to young Corey himself. And if you’re looking for a little love and romance you need to look no further than the emotion of Corey’s parents who never lost hope that one day their son would have his vision restored.

"The inspiration for the video actually came from Dr. Stephen Sherwin, president and CEO of Ceregene and currently the Chairman of the Biotechnology Industry Organization. Steve asked us to produce a video about renewed hope and interest in gene therapy that he could show during his Keynote Address at the BIO Convention in Chicago. He wanted a factual and realistic portrayal of Corey’s story and a video about hope and perseverance.

"In reviewing the final cut I was again reminded that the stories of science and biotechnology are best told visually. Video allows us to bring together the scientists with those who benefit from their science. It is a powerful and emotional combination. I must also admit to a little luck. Jean Bennett and Steve Rose are fantastic interviews, each presenting their expertise in language easily understandable by wide audiences. Their dedication to science combined with a personal affinity for patients like Corey really comes through.

"In the end, however, it is a story about a special little boy who is as normal as apple pie. He rides his bike (fast) and plays hand-to-eye games on Wii like a world champion. And in 2009, Corey Haas completed his first season of Little League baseball. I don’t think his batting average even mattered."

Like so many of the human stories that come out of the groundbreaking work of devoted scientists and doctors the world over, this is a great story (others are availably from WHITECOAT Strategies and BIOchannel on YouTube). I appreciate what the family, doctors, producers, and crew shared with us, and I hope that you'll pass along and help tell the story.

Thank you, all, for your service!

(Pictured first is David Welch (producer), and second is Corey Haas, who has overcome near blindness at birth, and finished his first season of little league baseball in 2009.)

Decisions for Heroes at NASAR National Search and Rescue Conference

2010-05-15T10:31:00.001-04:00

I am on the road this weekend, in Williamsburg, VA for graduation of several of our students from the US Coast Guard Auxiliary Detachment at The College of William and Mary (more on that soon). I apologize for losing this in the shuffle the last several days, but I want to highlight...

Robin Blandford, creator of the Decisions for Heroes (D4H) emergency management, search and rescue team management, and analytics software, is presenting and demoing at the NASAR National Search and Rescue Conference 2010 in Tunica, MI.

I have been taking a hard look at this application lately, and I must say that it has blown away my expectations as a means of easily and powerfully managing teams devoted to missions such as this. I will discuss it further in a future (or several) posts. In any case, I highly recommend that you learn more about the conference at http://www.nasar.org/nasar/conferences.php?id=159, more about D4H at http://www.decisionsforheroes.com/, and more about Mr. Blandford's personal dedication to this cause in his guest post on this blog at http://www.andrewdwelch.com/2010/04/robin-blandford-saves-lives-on-cliffs.html. Go check them out if you are at the conference this weekend!

Have a great weekend folks!

-- Posted from my iPad

On Mentoring Others: "Think of yourself as more of a guardrail..."

2010-05-13T15:01:00.000-04:00

Today a personal mentor of mine shared with me part of his philosophy on, well, mentoring others (so, no, this is not a post about Apple's Safari Web Browser, despite my use of its icon as the image on this page). He advised me:

"I think of myself as more of a guard rail than a compass."

This piece of advice speaks for itself, so I'll let you chew on it and avoid my personal editorial.

How big is the Gulf oil spill?

2010-05-12T11:56:00.002-04:00

I have heard a number of folks ask that very question, and though the map is few days old and thus a bit out of date, Paul Rademacher has done a nice job using Google Earth to give us an answer. Check it out.

Of course, a friend of mine was quick to send me this article from the BBC, again several days out of date, that makes the Deepwater Horizon spill seem like an insignificant problem in the face of past disaster-level spills. What we don't know, however, is how much longer this spill will continue to grow in its enormity.

Suffice it to say, this thing is big, it continues to grow, and the fallout will be enormous... even after we get the situation under control. Incident Command is working on it, though.

(Thanks, by the way, to Meagen Ryan on for pointing me in the direction of the Google Earth tool.)

Searching for a Mission-Oriented Identity: Every Coastie is a Mariner

2010-05-11T11:44:00.000-04:00

I have a great respect for organizations that do two things:

Understand and celebrate their core -- mission, values, competencies; and
Expect (and support the efforts of) their people to live up to those core principles.

I had a boss once that talked all the time about "utility players." He would tell me, "We want people who are good at and understand our core business, and can play in any role we need them for." We could be talking about office work, or we could be talking about baseball teams that emphasize playing good, fundamental ball. Or we could be talking about the United States Marine Corps focus on the notion that "Every Marine is a rifleman." I find, and I think that history supports, that this is such a simple, yet elegantly effective concept. It is the stuff that truly great organizations are made of. Wikipedia explains.

"...focus on the infantry is matched with the doctrine that "Every Marine is a rifleman", a focus of Commandant Alfred M. Gray, Jr., emphasizing the infantry combat abilities of every Marine. All enlisted Marines, regardless of military specialization, receive training as a rifleman; all officers receive training as infantry platoon commanders. Marines have demonstrated the value of this culture many times throughout history. For example, at Wake Island, when all of the Marine aircraft were shot down, pilots continued the fight as ground officers, leading supply clerks and cooks in a final defensive effort. As a result, a large degree of initiative and autonomy is expected of junior Marines..."

My thoughts here are explicitly directed to the Coast Guard Auxiliary (speak from your own experience), but the principle could apply more broadly throughout the Coast Guard. I spend a lot of time training new, and often very young, recruits. These experiences have caused me to think often about our service identity, what it means to be a Coastie, whether active duty, reserve, or auxiliary. We have our core values, missions, and Guardian Ethos, but what I seek here is more operational. As Marines are riflemen and second basemen (should) play good fundamental defense, what are we in the Coast Guard? I suggest that:

Every Coastie is, or should be, a mariner.

Now, I think we already do a pretty good job here. Our active duty and reserve recruits waste little time learning basic skills operating on and around the water, and one of the first things we ask of our new Auxiliarists is to complete a "basically qualified" (BQ) course as well. We need to go deeper, though. Auxiliary units need to expect that any of their people can jump on a boat and perform the mission when called, and this should apply broadly to all hands, whether their "current job" is in public affairs, human resources, materials, communications services, or any number of other mission support functions ashore.

We are a Sea Service, our mission is on and around the water, and our people need to be prepared to execute that mission at any time if we are to deliver the best possible value to the public we serve. This mission execution, service-oriented culture should be celebrated, expected, and ingrained into the fundamental identity of each unit, and I believe that work begins in training our newest shipmates.

My challenge to Auxiliary units everywhere is to make this "hop on the boat and go" culture a part of your daily life and long term planning, to expect skill and competence in every member, to begin with new member training that includes Boat Crew, and to keep working until you can say with confidence "our people are ready to go when called."

Note: I stand behind this notion. Several weeks ago, after spending the last several years ashore in marine safety, communications, or instructor assignments, I began the crew training myself. Positive change begins with the example that our leaders set.

This piece has been cross-posted to www.cgblog.org.

Erica Smith takes on the education and generation gaps, but needs your help

2010-05-10T12:46:00.000-04:00

Erica Smith is working to "build bridges" and "join generations" through an educational program in Charlottesville, VA. As an AmeriCorps VISTA, Erica is "proud to recuit, train, support, and sustain the intergenerational tutoring program at a state-of-the-art aging agency." She explains below.

"In addition to the educational achievement gap in schools, communities are also facing a generation gap between youth and the elderly. By the year 2030, the U.S. is expected to have more people over the age of 60 than any society in the history of the world, but currently, these people are being isolated. This has created the generation gap in our communities."

Erica and colleagues produced the video below as they promote this program and answering the question "why do you serve." As they serve the youth and elderly residents of Charlottesville, now too do they need your help. She asks that you click here to visit the video and click the "LIKE" (THUMBS UP) to help them win the fan favorite award, and that you pass along and share with your friends.

If you want to get involved and assist in this effort, or know somebody else who may, get in touch with Erica. She can be found on Twitter at @ElimenohP, or on LinkedIn.

To those reading, thank you for supporting this effort. To Erica and her colleagues, thank you for your hard work and for answering this week's question, "why do you serve?"

Social media, no longer a fad, has irreversibly altered our communication paradigm

2010-05-05T07:25:00.001-04:00

It's been since March, when asked "How do you balance work and pleasure for yourself, and for those that you lead," that I took up a question on Wednesday. My typical habit of using my Wednesday post to delve into a question on my mind or asked of me has been on hiatus for the Spotlight on Leadership Campaign. Last week, a colleague sent me a question about technology -- social media in particular -- and how best to break in. A good question, and it then occurred to me that those of us that write on the Internet do a lot of talking about social media, often taking for granted that everyone is already plugged in. Many are not. My friend asked...

I have been thinking of my aversion to some of the technological advances of today. I am on LinkedIn but since I am retiring I wonder how it may help in [other work]. I get mad at Facebook every time I try to see a page as I want to access them but not have an account. ...As you are in to all of these, what is the value, and are they really necessary (not just a fad), a way to stay in touch socially [given that] I prefer more face to face.

Worthwhile question. I'll give it a try. To begin, I wrote about LinkedIn in a post last year called "Digital media backlash, or do you just not see LinkedIn for what it really is?" I included a great video that provides a better explanation of LinkedIn itself. Have a look.

I think the central question here is this: "Is social media, or any of its component parts, just a fad?"

The short answer is, "Absolutely not."

The real answer, though, I think is a bit more complex. In the short history of the Internet, and social media in particular, we've seen a number of sites and services rise quickly and then fade from memory just as quickly. Napster introduced many of us to the notion of online "sharing" at the end of the 90's. Friendster was founded in 2002 and launched the social networking era during which MySpace and Facebook came to prominence, but now Friendster itself is barely an afterthought to most. Even MySpace, once the behemoth in the social networking space, has faded considerably in recent years.

Yet, as specific services have ridden fortune and rot on the back of changing technology and users' taste, many of the core tenets of "social networking" have worked their way into the way many of us conceptualize communication. Buttons on websites that allow you to quickly share with your friends, product reviews and ratings on Amazon, or simply the ability to comment on a blog post such as this one have all become standard fare across the Internet, and in so doing have shaped a paradigm wherein we fundamentally expect to consume content, create content, and share content pretty seamlessly. Simply put, I can't imagine logging on to the Internet without some expectation that I will be connecting with someone else.

So, in returning to the question, I really don't think it matters if a specific service is a fad. Don't get me wrong, I think that Facebook is here to stay... but even if it isn't, our basic expectations about the communications experience that services like Facebook have irrevocably bestowed on society, yes, those are here to stay.

My recommendation? Start small, go to someplace where you know others are playing, set up an account, and start connecting. Facebook is a great place to start because it has so many users and lets us do things that are so familiar -- share photos, share photos, leave quick messages for friends. LinkedIn offers great professional value, but is less dynamic, and offers diminishing returns the further you get from professional life. I am a big Twitter fan, but it is a bit advanced. Yes, start with Facebook. It's your best bet.

Hospital ship USNS Mercy deploys, represents humanity at its best

2010-05-04T12:08:00.004-04:00

Deployments of the United States Naval Hospital Ship USNS Comfort have become one of my favorite topics to cover here. In reverse chronological order over the last year:

I even cited the Comfort in my closing remarks from Graduation at William and Mary's Coast Guard Auxiliary Detachment when I was assigned there back in 2009. Indeed, she is a great ship, and such a fine representation of humanity at its best.

So I was therefore excited when I read, once again on Christopher Albon's great blog, last week that the Comfort's sister, USNS Mercy, was to deploy on Pacific Partnership on 1 May. The excerpt below is from an article in the Navy Compass.

"The Naval hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) will deploy from San Diego May 1, kicking off Pacific Partnership 2010.

"The fifth in a series of annual U.S. Pacific Fleet humanitarian and civic assistance endeavors, Pacific Partnership 2010 is aimed at strengthening regional relationships with host nations and partner nations...

"The deployment, which is scheduled to take place through late September, is designed to enhance relationships through medical, dental and engineering outreach projects that reinforce the mutually supporting roles between participants."

I am excited to be following the Mercy through this mission, which is scheduled to last into September. I will discuss here as appropriate, but I encourage you to follow directly as well on the official Pacific Partnership page, and also on Twitter.

"Service provides hope and serves as a reminder of the power of giving"

2010-05-03T12:00:00.001-04:00

I wrote last December of a dinner I attended where the theme was "Helping yourself while helping others." In answering the question, "why do you serve," this week, Tessa Vinson at The College of William and Mary writes of "service as a two way street," of her experience raising money for a cause close to the heart while working to become "more fit than [she] had been in years."

Tessa graduates in two weeks. I suspect, though, that just as her academic career continues (she returns to The College in the fall for law school), so too will the devotion to service displayed so well by all the member's of "Team Aidan." Tessa tells their story below.

"If someone had told me a year ago, or five years ago that I would have completed a half-marathon, I would have thought they were crazy. I had grown up hating running, and had not been to the gym in months. When one of my sorority sisters sent an email out asking sisters to join her in a half-marathon as part of a fundraiser, I briefly went to the website link and read about Reaching Potentials and all of the work they do for autistic children and their families. Having read all of the success stories, I thought this seemed like a worthy cause and promptly responded that I would be thrilled to run. After all, the race was in February and it was June. I had plenty of time to train, or back out, which was more likely. In the back of my mind, I knew I would help raise money, but in all likelihood I would barely train and pull out a few weeks before the race.

"However, once the first few emails were sent out and I saw how many of my sisters would be running with me, I became even more encouraged. Over the coming weeks, we learned more about Aidan, the little boy who had inspired this whole chain of events. I began to take training more seriously and was running or at the gym almost four days a week. I started eating better and sleeping more. By the time race day came around I was more fit than I had been in years. Throughout the weeks leading up to the race, my sisters and I emailed family and friends asking for donations to Team Aidan. Starting out with a goal of raising $3,000, by the time the fundraising campaign had ended, we had raised almost $8,300.

"Having completed the race I had come to learn that a group of eleven people could really make a difference. As Albert Schweitzer once said, “I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.” While I had fully expected to give something to Team Aidan, participating in such an event gave something back to me. It reminded me of the power of ordinary people. It reminded me that “service” is a two way street. Donations of time and money contribute far more than material and concrete results. Service provides hope, and in the end, can serve as a reminder of the power of giving."

I am struck by the re-appearance of the Schweitzer quote. Steve Pegram cited the same in a post a while back. The spirit pervades.

Thank you, Tessa and the rest of Team Aidan, for your service. Happy Graduation ;).

The iPad is great, say the world's... cats?

2010-04-30T11:56:00.002-04:00

I've been meaning to share this for a few weeks now, but more pressing items seem to come up day after day while (I suppose) the now-apparent feline fixation on the iPad is a bit more timeless. Cat references also seem to be on occasional Friday theme for me (think back to April 9 or March 5).

In any case, as the iPad has replaced more and more functions in my life that were previously occupied by a computer or a (paper, gasp!) notepad, I have found myself carrying it around nearly everywhere, even leaving my computer behind completely on several days (I did not open the lid on my laptop once yesterday). At first I was quite taken aback when someone asked me "so have you had any cats fall in love with your iPad yet," but the question is getting somewhat old at this point. Seems that a number of folks have seen the videos below. Thanks to Mike at Crazy Mike's Apps for dropping these in my inbox, and enjoy your Friday humor!

"External Awareness" might be worth half your time; Perpetual Learning certainly is

2010-04-28T12:14:00.001-04:00

We take up the concept of "external awareness" in this fourth and final week of the April "Spotlight on Leadership" Campaign. On this blog, and around the U.S. Coast Guard (who sponsors this annual month-long event each year), we have considered accountability and responsibility, influencing others, and decision making and problem solving through a combination of discussions and a focus on individual, personal stories. As we come to "external awareness," I think of yesterday's piece from a book that I've started reading each morning, "The Maxwell Daily Reader: 365 Days of Insight to Develop the Leader Within You and Influence Those Around You." Vice Admiral Papp, the Coast Guard's next Commandant, actually turned me on to this book during a talk he gave a while back. It's a great 3-minute read to get your day started, but I digress... Maxwell wrote yesterday about paying "the price that attracts leaders," specifically:

"Emotion-based companies allow the atmosphere to determine the action. Character-based companies allow the action to determine the atmosphere... [that in a previous study, Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus] found that 'it is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that that distinguishes leaders from their followers.' They came to the conclusion that, 'leaders are perpetual learners.'"

I found the paradox (at least on the surface) here to be intriguing: allow your character-inspired action to create the atmosphere, yet be ever more educated -- learn often -- embrace "external awareness" of the world around you by being a "perpetual learner." Curious.

The idea makes me think of a piece that Admiral Stavridis, Commander of U.S. European Command, wrote last week on "Time." I'll let you read the post itself (worth it), but Stavridis explained how he spends 25% of his time learning, reading, educating himself. He spends another 25% of his time "messaging," communicating with others. A mere 15% of his time, he says, is spent on actual operations, while the remaining 10% of his time is devoted to "innovation." I find these allocations astonishing, but very telling that the Admiral spends in excess of half of his life focusing on "external awareness" -- either learning himself or communicating with others. Fascinating.

The Coast Guard's Leadership Development Framework discusses this very subject (and provides the useful table included at the end of this post)...

Leaders identify and keep up to date on key national and international policies and economic, political, military, and social trends that affect the organization. Coast Guard leaders understand near-term and long-range plans and determine how best to be positioned to achieve the advantage in an increasingly competitive national economic climate.

So as the Spotlight on Leadership Campaign draws to a close, I ask...

Have you made yourself a perpetual learner? How do you keep up? How do you integrate what you learn with the decisions you make that impact the people you lead?

For my part, I'll tell you that the iPad has helped immensely with question two. I hope that posterity will judge me favorably on question one, and question three? It's the product of an ongoing evolution within.

Thank you to all who kept up with the campaign this month, contributed, considered, and brought the discussions back to your own businesses, units, organizations, friends and family. Thank you for your service as leaders!

CGBlog.org is a re-designed and re-invigorated forum for the those in and around the Coast Guard

2010-04-27T11:41:00.000-04:00

The team at CGBlog.org launched their re-designed and re-invigorated community website last week, and it is truly a gift to the Coast Guard community. Though not affiliated with the U.S. Coast Guard, most of the authors and publishers at CGBlog do work for or with the USCG. From their overview page:

At CGBlog, we seek to bring essays, opinions, and news about the United States Coast Guard, its people and its operations to the public. However, CGBlog is more than just a publication. It is a community. Look beyond CGBlog’s writings, Twitter updates, and RSS feeds and you’ll see this vibrant community coming together to share ideas and engage in open discussion about the issues, people, news, and stories covered.

Our intent with the CGBlog family of sites was to design it for the active participation of all who share an interest in one of America’s best kept secrets, and we look forward to having you join the community as well.

The new site is both elegant and functional, and will continue to serve as a great forum for discourse on matters important to all members of the Coast Guard family. I encourage you to have a look, check back often, and follow on Twitter or Facebook.

I'm also quite honored to have been asked to join the team there as a regular author. I have long appreciated CGBlog's contribution to our service, and I am happy to be penning at least a weekly post moving forward. I hope that you will join the discussion with us, and send any thoughts or items of interest our way.

To all who helped out on Earth Day: "Thank you for your service"

2010-04-26T11:59:00.001-04:00

Earth Day last week calls for a special "why do you serve" post this week. Each Monday I highlight the service of different "heroes in our midst" -- ordinary people serving the world around them. I prefer the personal stories, such as the one told last week by Robin Blandford, a volunteer in the Irish Coast Guard, but as I heard little news stories last week of people working hard to clean up a small corner of the world on Earth Day, I knew we had our story for this week.

Now, I will admit that I do have a bit of a problem with Earth Day. I find it to be troublingly similar to Valentine's Day -- you know, a single day per year when you are supposed to really show someone (or in this case, the planet Earth) that you care about it, as if we shouldn't be doing that the rest of the year? Not to discourage anyone's uniquely late-April efforts, but do consider all the hard work you did last week when next you have an opportunity to opt for laziness over environmental stewardship (I'm looking at you, "guy whose coffee cup turned into little pieces of styrofoam that I picked up on Saturday"). But I digress...

Whether it was some folks I know who spent last Thursday better "greenifying" their house (installing better weather proofing, fixing some run-off issues, etc), or the Army National Guard unit I saw picking up trash along the road over the weekend, I thank everyone who observed Earth Day in their unique way. As someone who has done a lot of work in Marine Safety and Environmental Protection with the Coast Guard, I'd like to specifically thank the team of volunteers (pictured here) that I spent time with over the weekend picking up trash and untangling fishing line along the Potomac River at Jones Point Lighthouse in Alexandria, VA. We had another team over along the Anacostia River that same day. I enjoyed spending the day with you, and I thank you all for your service!

As we head into our fourth and final week of the April "Spotlight on Leadership" campaign focusing on the idea of "external awareness," I encourage everyone to consider their place and potential in the context of the economic, environmental, political, military, and social issues we face both within our own organizations and communities, as well as nationally and internationally. We'll discuss more later this week, and as always, I look forward to your thoughts.

Cult of the TWAMP and a movie about the Stamp Act (Seriously, ish)

2010-04-23T12:07:00.001-04:00

Friday entertainment...

I was back on campus at my alma mater, The College of William and Mary, last weekend. I had two discussions that made me laugh (probably more, actually, but two I'd like to share). The first was about the word "TWAMP," which seems to have been minted since I left The College. TWAMP stands for "Typical William And Mary Person" -- one can only imagine somewhat socially awkward, bizarre sense of humor, oddly creative, most likely overly studious... you get the idea. Basically the type of kid who might actually think it a good idea to make the Griffin your mascot when you are actually known as the "William and Mary Tribe" (and certainly the type to go and modify Wikipedia to say that "Those sources that do address a group of griffins usually refer to them as a 'tribe,'" but who knows how long that small modification will last).

In any case, I got to laughing with an old friend about an "Easter Egg" video that the media center in the campus library posted online a while back. For those possessing a quirky sense of humor, and for the generally TWAMPish among you, I hope this makes you chuckle (if not scratch your head, or, better yet, think "I always knew that Andrew Welch character was a little odd, and now I see where he gets it.") Enjoy...

What Nutragenomics, custom Nikes, and ordering take out tell us about American political life

2010-04-22T12:25:00.003-04:00

Have you ever heard of Nutritional Genomics? "Nutragenomics," they call it, it's a science I have been told has revealed much about the complex interactions between diet and genes. I've even been told that it could make possible what is called "personalized nutrition," whereby in several years one might expect to walk into a restaurant and be handed a menu personalized to their own very unique nutritional needs.

Of course, if you prefer to get healthy the old fashioned way you can go running. My girlfriend just bought a pair of running shoes online; Nike let her customize the style, the individual colors, the shocks, and even get her initials monogrammed on the side.

You might alternatively try sitting at home on your couch, watching whatever reruns you long for on your Apple TV. You and a friend can order fast food delivery to forget that you had ever even heard of nutrition or running. Don't worry, you can order steak tacos and he can order a triple-thick burger; you can do it online to have it all delivered to your door, while you stay at home enjoying that Sam Adams mix pack you picked up earlier at the store.

What's fascinating, though, is that in an age of extraordinary personalized choice -- newsfeeds, podcasts, even food, shoes, and drink -- the big political parties haven't divined a way the get on the bandwagon. They both seem to be in the business of telling the American people not just what we need, but surely what we want as well, so doesn't it seem odd that USA Today reported yesterday that "The nation's fastest-growing political party is 'none of the above...'"?

Now, I am not a political luminary, and in fact I like to keep my personal beliefs just that -- personal. I find that whether at work for a company charged with securing our nation under contract or in the Coast Guard Auxiliary charged with keeping our own people safe, it is just better to do my job and live my life as best I know how. But as an avid observer of people, society, and the organizations that people construct within that society, isn't it interesting how we indeed live in this age of choice, yet are still expected to fit into clean little "liberal" and "conservative" belief boxes?

I suspect that a number of people in North Carolina, New Hampshire, and Nevada all wondered the same thing. Fascinating.

But it's lunchtime. I think I'll have some pizza... two slices, one with pepperoni and one with sausage and mushroom. Perhaps later I'll put on my heart rate monitor (personalized by my height, weight, and age of course) and go running. I enjoy those runs -- good thinking time, making everything right in my own little world.

Oh, and if you're still scratching your head about the "personalized nutrition" idea, have a look at the video below.

"Decision Making and Problem Solving" about committing to action, even in uncertain situations

2010-04-21T11:57:00.002-04:00

The "spotlight on leadership" this week focuses on "decision making and problem solving," begging the question, how do we involve others in decisions while still making good judgements when it is time to commit to action? Go ahead, I await your thoughts...

There is a lot more to decision making and problem solving than that, but as I re-familiarized myself with what the U.S. Coast Guard Leadership Development Framework (as you may know, one of my standard go-to "bibles" on leadership), that was the question that jumped out at me. The framework says the following of this key competency...

Leaders identify and analyze problems; use facts, input from others, and sound reasoning to reach conclusions; explore various alternative solutions; distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information; perceive the impact and implications of decisions; and commit to action, even in uncertain situations, to accomplish organizational goals. They evaluate risk levels, create risk control alternatives, and implement risk controls. Successful leaders are able to isolate high-importance issues, analyze pertinent information, involve others in decisions that affect them, generate promising solutions, and consistently render judgments with lasting, positive impact.

Of course there are so many different approaches to take here. Robin Blandford's Decisions for Heroes software puts a solid tool and strong data into the hands of emergency first-responders making though calls in training and at the time of the incident. The folks at the Excellence in Government Conference I attended earlier this week made quite a strong case for leadership (and, by extension, the making of decisions and solving of problems) through relationships. Ultimately, though, the challenge is to use the best data and tools you have available in making a basically human judgement. What are the critical challenges and what is just a distraction? Where must we focus our resources, and what resources must be applied? How will we control risk as best we can, involve others in the solution, make a good judgement, and executive towards "lasting, positive impact?" So I ask you to consider once again:

How do we involve others in decisions while still making good judgements when it is time to commit to action?

...And consider the diagram below (click the image to enlarge) if you're trying to evaluate yourself, your skills and tendencies in the context of your own job, so that you can get and idea of where to go next.

Service Leadership highlighted at yesterday's Excellence in Government Conference

2010-04-20T12:28:00.002-04:00

I spent the day yesterday at the "Excellence in Government Conference" focusing mostly on developing a leadership culture within organizations, but to a lesser extent (at least in the sessions I attended and discussions I had) on citizen engagement through social media, a culture of service, and managing actual change in the way the the federal government does business. We touched a bit on the millennial generation entering the workforce both in government and the private sector. The conference was held in the Atrium at the Ronald Reagan building (pictured here), a really beautiful and bright venue in downtown Washington, DC. I chatted with a number of folks from government and industry -- all doing great service for the American people -- and am happy to share a compilation of their and my thoughts on the topics at hand (I was struck by how much of what was discussed at the conference had been the subject of recent debate on this blog; see the links below). I am eager to hear of your insight and experiences on the topics below as well!

Leadership is about Relationships
Peter Ronayne, from the Federal Executive Institute, suggested that leadership is an inherently social activity. Leadership development is a lot about what happens in an experience, creating the emotional connection and not obsessing over the class or the instruction. In blended or e-learning, or telecommuting environments, there is a need for leaders to create these personal connections and to do this face to face. It is about people getting together to explore ideas and to be challenged to do so. Get to know the people around you in a real and authentic way, and let them know you back.

Jeff Neal, Department of Homeland Security, warns that one does not motivate by evaluating the individuals on the team, and then setting up a system whereby those individuals are told, "if all of you are wonderful, then we have failed because we did not set up a system that better differentiated you." This systems-driven paradigm is not leadership, and organizations frankly need a better way of developing, recognizing, and rewarding their people. Carol Willett, Government Accountability Office, explained that the "challenge is to create a leadership program without sending people to leadership classes." That if she has "to pull someone off the line to go to leadership class, then [I] have failed." Instead, bring people together around real work and real challenges and give junior people the opportunity to develop as leaders in meaningful real-world situations.

Leaders Think
We must develop leaders who are interdisciplinary, who can engage in ambiguity and complexity, and who can lead in a global world. Willett further highlighted that the age of "the boss" telling the junior employee, "you're not a senior executive kid, so just do the job I asked you to do," is passe; everyone needs to be a leader now. In 1975, change management was not something that was asked (and was often discouraged) of a Second Lieutenant. Now, though, we need to teach our people how to lead change, not in a destructive sense, but in a way that better serves customers (and it is worth emphasizing that, in the case of government, the "customers" are the citizens we serve).

Be Well
How do we keep ourselves well over the long haul now that people are working later into life? The role that leaders play in nutrition, fitness, sleep, promoting a culture of personal sustainability and longevity will become increasingly central.

The Effort Must be Sustainable after the Visionary is Gone
We need to engineer what we do into the organization's fabric, such that our successors can carry on with the work that we begin -- that good initiatives do not become someone's "pet project," only to be discarded when the visionary sponsor moves on.

There are no "Soft Skills" Here
Neal was emphatic that we need to avoid use of the phrase "soft skills" when describing leaders. This stuff is hard, and the ability to lead absolutely cannot be made the second class skill set to the ability to perform technically. People are often hired for the wrong reason, when it is forgotten that technical proficiency does not necessarily beget leadership capability. The problem is exacerbated when those people are not mentored, developed, and allowed to succeed, finally rising to leadership roles only for their failures to become subject to the question of "what went wrong" if things don't work out. For what it's worth, Neal commented that the Coast Guard does "incredibly well" surmounting this challenge.

Boldly Pursue the Vision
Many organizations are challenged by lack of vision, lack of creativity, and lack of risk taking. "Leadership," said one speaker, "is about making sure your tiller is still in the water and you're going where you need to go."

The moderator, Jeff Pon, closed with a poignant parable.

The leader approached a group of workers and asked them each what they were doing. The first said, "I'm breaking rocks." The second elaborated that, "I'm breaking rocks to feed my family." The third explained, "I'm breaking rocks to feed my family, but I am building a cathedral."

Who do you think will be the most productive, the happiest, the most committed to the cause?

Peter Ronayne added, "If we are about results, then we have to embrace the notion that work is a thing you do, not a place you go."

Robin Blandford saves lives on the cliffs of Ireland and through the Internet worldwide

2010-04-19T12:25:00.002-04:00

I am pleased to feature Robin Blandford in this Monday's weekly "why do you serve" segment as we kick off week three of the April "Spotlight on Leadership" campaign. This week's focus is on "decision making and problem solving," and it is in this area that Robin has really done some fantastic work. Drawing on personal experiences serving in the Irish Coast Guard, he and his colleagues developed the really excellent "Decisions for Heroes" web-based search and rescue team management software (scroll down for a video demo). Invoking the mantra that "better decisions save lives," Robin serves the public need at work by day and as a volunteer on the cliff's of Ireland. When I asked him "why do you serve," he graciously responded with his thoughts below...

My serving others really kicked off when I started to enjoy my leadership role as a Patrol Leader in Scouting. I continued on to become a Scout Leader, and serve voluntarily at international camps and centres in a leadership role. The enjoyment of serving others with a good time and education is phenomenal. Through scouting, I became a first aider and continued to advance those skills and my leadership by joining a Search & Rescue team.

My voluntary unit of the Irish Coast Guard serve as a 4th Emergency Service to the State. We offer a blue light high-angle sea cliff and technical rescue service and safety patrols and advice to anyone in our community in danger on on the cliffs, coast, sea, lakes and rivers. Volunteering takes many hours each week - and many are spent in cold conditions searching, preparing, or just waiting - far from the excitement. So why do I serve?

I think serving in an unpaid rescue team draws people for two reasons - you come for the opportunity to help your community, you stay for the camaraderie. The opportunity to help your community and save lives is a given - but the camaraderie of your colleges - the experiences you have together form very tight bonds. The camaraderie makes good of those long through the night and work the next morning searches. The camaraderie makes the false starts for hoaxes at 4am ok. The camaraderie means you gain yourself while still giving all you've got.

I serve because I gain a little while others gain a lot. I gain friends, a purpose, and a reason - others gain their survival.

The Decisions for Heroes demo video is below, check it out and consider employing it if you're in this line of work. Robin, thank you for your thoughts here, and thank you for your service!

Talking "Citizen Engagement" through Social Media at yesterday's AFFIRM lunch

2010-04-16T12:05:00.000-04:00

I spent lunch yesterday meeting some great folks sharing insights on citizen engagement with government at the monthly luncheon hosted by AFFIRM in Washington, DC. I always enjoy events where it seems my work with USIS and the Coast Guard Auxiliary intersect; this topic certainly fits the bill.

One panelist shared the site http://data.gov, which invites visitors to "Discover, Participate, [and] Engage" with some neat data sets and methods for mashing up statistics and geography. The site reminds me in a way of some of the interesting work that Google is doing in this same area.

Another panelist emphasized that, "We cant make social media and citizen engagement, putting citizens at the center of government, just about checking a box and getting a green light," on a scorecard. I think that this message is critical as we consider ways to use new technologies to make citizens a part of the discussion -- what we do both in government and in the private sector needs to be authentic and useful, or folks won't care. This outlook will require some long-term changes in how we operate, and it will not always be easy to address these cultural issues in an agency, organization, or company. As one speaker said, we need to "really institutionalize a culture of engagement," asking, "What are you trying to achieve, What am I seeking innovation for?"

All together a productive hour and a half hearing from several speakers, including Amanda Eamich, who is doing some great work with social media at USDA, and chatting with Scott Johnson and Meagen Ryan about some interesting work at Rock Creek Strategic Marketing.

Thanks to all!

How do we influence others in order to accomplish the mission?

2010-04-14T13:00:00.002-04:00

How do we influence others in order to accomplish the mission? That is the fundamental challenge that we investigate in the "Spotlight on Leadership" campaign this week. I suggested on Monday, and in previous posts, that one's greatest opportunity (and capacity) to influence others is through your work to develop your people -- to educate, train, and equip them to take on progressively greater challenges. Through meaningful and authentic investment in your people, the leader has the ability to impact long-term results (rather than to simply influence behavior in a single incident or towards a single end).

How do you influence others to create positive improvement or change in the execution of your mission, the performance of your people, or the long-term results that your organization produces?

The U.S. Coast Guard, who sponsors the April leadership campaign in its own organization, suggests the following concerning "influencing others."

"Leaders possess the ability to persuade and motivate others to achieve the desired outcome: to create change. They influence and persuade by communicating, directing, coaching, and delegating, as the situation requires. Successful leaders understand the importance and relevance of professional relationships; develop networks; gain cooperation and commitment from others; build consensus; empower others by sharing power and responsibility; and establish and maintain rapport with key players."

The Coast Guard's Leadership Development Framework provides the following guidance to workers, first line supervisors, mid-level managers, senior managers, and executive leaders (click the table to enlarge to a more readable size).

I encourage you to consider the ways that you positively influence those around you -- not just those you lead, but those you work with, and even those you follow.

Get us the Griffin? Collective thoughts on new mascot at The College of William and Mary

2010-04-13T12:08:00.000-04:00

The College of William and Mary put an end to long-standing speculation and debate earlier this month when it chose the "Griffin" as its new mascot. There has been a lot of idle discussion about this in our alumni circles the last week or so, and my thoughts really remain unchanged since I shared them several months ago as community voting got underway ("W&M alums: Vote on the Great, Bad, and Ugly of the W&M Mascot finalists" says it all). My personal distaste for the final decision aside, I do think that the committee on campus that worked on this really did work hard, and really did try to make a good choice; I really am sincere when I say, "Thank you for your service to The College."

I do have to pause and wonder if this decision wasn't motivated in some part by the College community's bizarre and enduring obsession with "sticking it to" the NCAA and re-claiming the feathers that were banned several years ago due to concerns that they might be offensive to Native Americans. We retain the moniker William and Mary "Tribe," but now we oddly have this mythical feathered creature that looks like the strange offspring of the Philadelphia Eagle and something straight out of Harry Potter. Just a thought, but perhaps we have had even more institutional difficulty getting over the feathers issue than I thought. But don't take my word for it, the free world has been abuzz about the Griffin for a solid week...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Virginia's Confederate History Month & Griffin Mascot

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

The commentary continues...

"In case you haven't heard, W&M's new mascot is a griffin, a half-bird, half-lion."

"Gheorghe: The Blog is incensed..."

"It's supposed to be a griffin, but I think it mostly looks like the Philadelphia Eagle's kid is wearing khakis for his internship..." --DCist.com

"[Remember William and Mary] we're all in this together. Just ask Thomas Jefferson, your alum who decorated his home in Monticello with griffins." --USA Today blog

"@AestheticOctostill wish #tribemascot was Robot Lady GaGa. not sure why they didn't even consider that nomination..." --Twitter

"While the president saying 'Get me the griffin' is no 'Release the kraken!' I commend William & Mary on its commitment to being different. Now some school only needs to adopt the esquilax." -- sportingnews.com

"College's new mascot will not be asparagus" -- Headline, NBC Washington

"Wikipedia informs us that the college's previous mascot was a green and gold frog called Colonel Ebirt, which is Tribe spelled backwards, although students evidently thought it lame, and not particularly frog-like, and dubbed it the "amorphous green blob." The frog was euthanized in 2005." --Washingtonpost College Inc blog

"By the way, Bill and Mary's sports teams will still be known as the Tribe, which is only slightly confusing. Perhaps that's why some anonymous clown tried to justify this move by inserting an imaginary fact("A group of Griffins is called a Tribe.") into the Wikipedia entry for Griffin yesterday. Mascot research committees may be pointless and expensive, but at least they are thorough" -- deadspin.com

Harsh? Yes, perhaps. Pretty funny? Most certainly. Alas, we alums, students, faculty, the community at large (TWAMPS)... we've always been a strange bunch.

Former students, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliarists from The College of William & Mary, carry on their lives of service

2010-04-12T11:59:00.002-04:00

We enter this week's installment of the "Spotlight on Leadership" campaign with a "why do you serve" post that is very close to my heart. I should actually say that this Monday I am taking the opportunity not to ask the question "why do you serve," but rather to highlight three servant leaders, and the progress they have made over the last year.

You might know of my experience as the Detachment Leader (Officer in Charge) of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Detachment at The College of William and Mary. Interestingly, I wrote just several weeks ago of the value of serving as an instructor, at one time or another during your career, in whatever organization you find yourself working. Your experience teaching others will quite profoundly influence your own life, and what is more, you are likely afterwards to experience the great pride that comes from seeing your former charges succeed in ways far beyond what you imagined when they were students.

It is therefore fitting, as we tackle the notion of "Influencing Others" as this week's leadership topic, that last week I received messages from several of my former students. I also heard from someone with whom another former student works, saying that, "she is performing very well, a cut above most." It was a great moment, and I am happy to update you on their stories.

Emily Johnson graduated from The College of William and Mary in 2009, moved to Washington, DC, and has gone to work for USIS as a special investigator performing federal government background investigations. She has continued her part time service in the Coast Guard Auxiliary as the Planning Manager in the University Programs Branch (where she works with me). She is eager to begin training to earn her boat crew qualification this spring, which will pave the way for her to work in on-water boat operations. She's also squeezing in some service time with her church's refugee resettlement program.

Christian Fitzsimmons enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, graduating from recruit training this past December. I saw him (and others) shortly thereafter at a New Years party I hosted, and was so impressed with what I learned. He has gone on to school at the Defense Language Institute (DLI), where his acquired linguistic competencies will make him a instrumental in a changing world.

Mike Piantedosi transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, where he is currently completing his first year. I find myself looking forward to his regular e-mail updates. He will briefly return home to Virginia in several months, but his summer will be filled with time underway, either aboard an operational Coast Guard vessel or aboard the training barque Eagle. He has agreed to send me his own answer to the question "why do you serve," which I will certainly post as soon as it is received.

These three, each coming from similar roots at The College, have each chosen dramatically different paths. One serves part time when the daily responsibilities of her civilian career are through. Two may go on to defend the United States overseas. One serves with his linguistic skills, through an understanding of other cultures, while another serves through her compassion for those from places far beyond our shores. Two have chosen to dedicate their efforts to saving lives and property at sea. All three continue to make me -- and all those that know them -- very proud. They show us that there are many paths to service, many ways to make a difference in the world. Their collective efforts help me to remember that there is no greater feeling than that which comes from witnessing the success of those you once mentored. Thank you for those efforts, and thank you for your service.

Enough said...

2010-04-09T13:19:00.000-04:00

"Writer’s Block – Those cold unfeeling keys just stare at me, mocking me." Describes my mood this week, and on this Friday in particular. I hope it makes you grin. We'll get back on track next week and in the weeks to come. Thanks for reading!

Click here for the original post and photo. Enjoy, everyone!

How do our "weak link" relationships influence our sense of being connected to those around us?

2010-04-08T12:03:00.002-04:00

Baseball season is upon us, and though the Red Sox just dropped two of three to the Yankees, it is still a glorious time of year (made only more glorious by the MLB.com At Bat app on my iPad). I got four tickets to the Nationals game in DC this afternoon, so last night I called up some friends that I had not seen in several weeks (we're meeting at the gate just before the game). As I thought of who I would invite to join me, though, I realized that I have a number of "friends" that I have not "seen" or "talked to" in at least several weeks. In fact, I would say that most of the people I know have been off the radar for a few weeks. Work and family (Easter was just last weekend) have kept me occupied.

...How odd. I certainly don't feel isolated. Fact is, I feel like I talk with folks every day, many single individuals several times each week. Thinking about this, I recalled an article I read from Kristin Burnham at CIO Magazine last month. Though the headline topic of the article has little to do with the question at hand, Burnham did write that:

"While some level of physical interaction will always add value to relationships, Gartner says that come 2020, most relationships and teams will be based on "weak links"—that is, you may not have personally met a contact, but you'll know of or may have interacted with him via social sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter."

I am not sure how I feel about what this portends for our future, but it suddenly doesn't seem so odd that I feel connected to people I know, yet haven't really seen or talked with a number of people I am close with in several weeks. I carry on intelligent and meaningful discussions with people via those social networks all the time. I would even go so far as to say that several have become actual "friends," yet I have never met most of them.

These are Burnham's (or Gartner's, as they did the research) "weak links." I can say, as someone long intrigued by social dynamics like this, I am.. well.. intrigued. Obviously our face-to-face friendships are not -- thankfully -- going away (at least as long as we call our buddies to meet up for a baseball game), but I wonder if we aren't facing a future where the relationships we forge in cyberspace aren't as omnipresent as those that we cherish in physical space.

So as homage to each of you that I "speak" with regularly, whether on my blog, or via Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter: Thanks for making it real, we'll talk tomorrow, but for the moment I encourage you to go out and enjoy a baseball game, or the presence of your neighbors outside on a warm spring evening. I am, and will continue to do so.

"Accountability and Responsibility" are the personal values upon which success is built

2010-04-07T12:04:00.002-04:00

Today is the first Wednesday in the April "Spotlight on Leadership Campaign" during which we will investigate a different aspect of leadership each week. Today's is "Accountability and Responsibility," aptly the first as I tend to regard personal accountability and responsibility as the foundation upon which all other success is built. I have found it to be the single most important value both at work and in my life outside of work. Sometimes things don't work out, sometimes you don't please everyone, sometimes you do something wrong, but it is only when you take ownership of your successes and your shortcomings that you can move forward -- capable of taking on the next challenge -- with self-respect and the respect of (most of) those around you.

Consider: What does accountability and responsibility mean to you, in your life, in your work? How have you made this aspect of leadership (and followership) work for you and those around you?

This was not always the case, in my life at least. I vividly remember times long past, before I made personal accountability and responsibility a near-sacred priority, when modus operandi was about coming up with reasons why things that didn't go well were the fault of any person (or any thing) but myself. Nobody likes to be at fault, but if you hold yourself accountable in cases where the fault is yours, you create an opportunity to learn from those experiences, earn the respect and trust of others, and can then take positive responsibility for the (increasingly frequent, I suggest) great things that you find yourself associated with.

The Spotlight on Leadership Campaign is a U.S. Coast Guard effort, whose themes I am applying more broadly to the context of leadership in any organization -- corporate or military, government or non-governmental, paid or volunteer. The USCG Leadership Development Framework speaks of accountability and responsibility in the statement below (which I have slightly modified to make more broadly applicable in a number of different organizations).

Leaders know their service and organization, recognizing the organizational structure and the chain of command. Each individual is sensitive to the impact of his or her behavior on others and the organization. Leaders take ownership for their areas of responsibility, are accountable to effectively organize and prioritize tasks, and efficiently use resources. Regulations and guidelines that govern accountability and responsibility allow leaders to use appropriate formal tools to hold others accountable when situations warrant.

The framework goes on discuss what one might expect of themselves, depending on the level in the organization that you work. See below, and note that you may have to click the image to enlarge to something readable.

As you ponder this, I ask again: What does accountability and responsibility mean to you, in your life, in your work? How have you made this aspect of leadership (and followership) work for you and those around you?

I am eager for your thoughts!

Bill Bratton, leader in service of global security, on accountability and why he continues to serve

2010-04-05T13:07:00.000-04:00

We are shining a spotlight on leadership this month as we investigate a different topic each week. This first week gets underway discussing "Accountability and Responsibility" in the regular Monday "why do you serve" piece. I knew as soon as I read a 1 April BusinessWeek article, "Bill Bratton, Globocop," that we would take a different approach today.

Bill Bratton, Chairman of Altegrity Risk International (full disclosure, my employer USIS's sister company), has served four decades in law enforcement. I discussed his GovSec conference keynote several weeks ago. Bratton's forty years of public service now carried on in the private sector speaks to my oft-argued proposition that service comes in many forms" -- in this case we see that service is not the sole domain of the doctors, teachers, men and women in uniform. As the former police chief in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles, Chief Bratton has carried on a life of service working to ensure the safety of our people in the places they work and live. Speaking to this week's "leadership competency," Susan Berfield of BusinessWeek wrote:

"Bratton's philosophy of law enforcement took shape 20 years ago when, as head of New York City's transit police, he inspired and provoked a once-demoralized force to restore order underground. He and a small brain trust believed that police should consider residents their customers, criminals their competitors. They also understood that authority and accountability had to be visible at a local level."

Berfield (perhaps unknowingly) answered our question as to "Why Chief Bratton serves" in writing...

"Sometime this past summer Bill Bratton realized he was getting bored. He was nearing his 62nd birthday and wondering what his next challenge might be. He'd spent most of his career in law enforcement. Was it time for another shot at the corporate world? He had been in command of the Los Angeles police force for seven years, the longest he had ever stayed anywhere. Bratton had led the department through grueling, federally mandated reforms. He had put into practice all of his ideas about policing and management and leadership, and they had worked. The crime rate had dropped by more than a third. The LAPD, long despised in minority communities, found acceptance where it had previously been feared. Morale was high. 'I had done everything I wanted to do,' he says.

"What he chose to do next suggests that Bratton still has something to prove, because there are many easier ways to ensure a comfortable retirement. In the fall of 2009 he became chairman of Altegrity Risk International, a security consulting firm in New York. Bratton intends to bring the best of American policing to some of the most dangerous places in the world. Soon the State Dept. will open the bidding on highly lucrative contracts to help train police forces in what it calls post-conflict nations. It's work that has often defied the expertise of more established companies, other law enforcement agencies, and the U.N. It is dangerous, frustrating, politically fraught, and labor-intensive. Bratton, however, is optimistic. In fact, he sounds like a man about to embark on a long-planned vacation. 'It's a great time to be doing this,' he says in his office in midtown Manhattan."

The article is an engaging read as it illuminates the often-times unexplored synergies between service to others and profit-making enterprise, as well as the road ahead for the public-private partnership of government, diplomacy, military, and private companies as they tackle security challenges in "post-conflict nations." I propose that well-run and well-intentioned companies are capable -- sometimes most capable -- of doing good things in the world. I would like to see more if this organizational behavior (it's good for your business, too). It's a big part of the reason why I love my "day job," only made better by my opportunity to serve as a Coast Guard Auxiliarist when the work day is done.

An extended version of Chief Bratton's keynote at the GovSec conference was made available last week. It is worth a 6-minute listen to learn a bit more about his vision for global post-conflict security.

iPad Eve reflection on Apple products, the sense of Digital Zen that they offer, and what lessons we can learn from them

2010-04-02T12:20:00.001-04:00

The Apple iPad hits stores tomorrow. At least, I think a few of them will hit stores (the rest have all been pre-ordered), and yes, I might go early and wait in line because I was not one of the folks that pre-ordered. I haven't done anything like that since I managed four tickets to a big football game when I was in college. Strangely, the idea of standing in line with the Apple faithful sounds mildly entertaining.

...But I digress, as I am not here to talk about the iPad. I've already had that discussion. It's Friday, so I am here to take a bit of a break from work and discuss one of my favorite things: Apple products, the sense of Digital Zen that they offer, and what lessons we can learn from them. I promised this post weeks ago, so it's time to follow through.

A family member's computer died last month, so she promptly asked me to recommend a replacement. For that small enclave of my family still using PCs, it was one of several major computer catastrophes inside of two years, so one would think the conversion to Apple to be a slam dunk, right? Not so. I made the recommendation, but then her "IT guy down the street" (clearly someone with something to lose should his customers start using computers that are actually reliable) told her that Macs aren't compatible with anything. Also not so (seems someone's hot tub time machine took him back to 1995 when Macs actually didn't really play well with others). When I was finally forced to start calling around to ask friends what type of PC they would recommend, I realized that I don't know many people who don't use a Mac. Mother, brother, uncle, aunt, cousin, brother of girlfriend, friends from the Coast Guard, former business partner, girl on the other side of the wall at work, girl on the other side of the other wall at work... this was tough. So I asked my friend Dave, but he told me about how the Dell technician who fixed his computer recommended that he get a Mac. I called my friend Jon, but the only reason he doesn't use a Mac is because he likes to build his own computer, so he was no help. I talked with my friend Sam, but his PC had just died (and a week later he bought my old Mac from me). I even asked the IT guy at work, but for all the time he spends fixing our PCs at the office, he couldn't figure out why someone wouldn't get a Mac either. And not that I could give him a ring to ask (though I could send a tweet, I guess), I dare say the Commandant of the Coast Guard would be of little help himself. Click here and notice what is sitting in his lap.

At the end of the day I was left wondering: "Why is it that that 90% of the people I know and associate with are tied to a computer that still has a low market share relative to the (sub-par) alternatives?" Curious, but I frankly don't care...

You see, I carry my MacBook Pro nearly everywhere. I write on it, do my job on it, teach from it... last night I was in a meeting where some information was needed, but of course not available in hard copy. My Mac and my Verizon MiFi saved the day.

Ultimately, though, this is more than a fondness for Apple. It is a fondness for things that work the way they are supposed to, for people and organizations that live a fanatical commitment to excellence, much the way that Time Magazine described the mentality that produced the iPad in an interesting piece yesterday.

Why do I buy Apple products, and why am I even considering going to wait in line for one tomorrow morning? Because I trust Apple to consistently produce something great. I follow the company with great anticipation as to what might be next, and I try to learn from them -- Chiefly, to lead with a clear vision, a determined spirit, and an enduring commitment to the quality of your work.

Last weekend my girlfriend's IBM finally died. She bought a new MacBook.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

April shines a "Spotlight on Leadership"

2010-03-31T12:32:00.001-04:00

The "Spotlight on Leadership Campaign" runs each April in the U.S. Coast Guard. Though the campaign is USCG-specific, the themes are nearly universally applicable in business, government, non-profits, or anywhere else you work and serve. I hope that Coasties and non-Coasties alike who read this blog will take the themes to heart, consider their importance in your life and work, discuss them with your colleagues, and leave comments and feedback here so that all can discuss. This is a new effort for me, so I am excited to see how it works out.

A recent announcement explained:

"This campaign offers a unique opportunity for us to highlight the importance of leadership and professional development, and to recognize best practices...

"While leadership is an important topic everyday, a concentrated effort to focus on development and recognition can pay of with a return on investment well into the future."

Over the next four weeks, I'll focus on a different leadership competency here in my Wednesday blog post. This year's areas to focus on are:

Accountability and Responsibility
Influencing Others
Decision Making and Problem Solving
External Awareness

As you take on each topic yourself, and with your colleagues, consider how you do so in a way that is innovative, creative, tied to promoting leadership competencies within your organization or unit, full of potential for future use, applicable as a Best Practice, comprehensive (several elements used vs. one or two), inclusive (all personnel considered Target Audience), participatory, and fun.

If you are in the Coast Guard, consider how your unit can participate and perhaps enter the contest.

To everyone, good luck - I look forward to your initial thoughts on this, and to taking up the issue of Accountability and Responsibility in next Wednesday's post. Please pass this post on to everyone you know!

Proceedings on education and training for leaders, managers, and all those invested in the success of their people

2010-03-30T12:27:00.001-04:00

Leaders, managers, and all those invested in the success of their people would do well to indulge themselves in last month's (February 2010) "Education and Training" issue of Proceedings from the U.S. Naval Institute (on Twitter @navalinstitute). I make this recommendation broadly, as I find many of the lessons learned to be quite applicable to many organizations (in and out of uniform), businesses, and agencies. Proceedings is, by far, my favorite regular publication, not just thanks to its smart global outlook, but thanks also to its consistently insightful take on topics of importance to the leader. I find the regular spotlight on education and training to be particularly engaging because I fundamentally believe that great organizations are built upon the success of their people, and that leaders become great because they invest in the development of those people. I quote from an assortment of February's pieces below.

On the dichotomy of academic achievement and dedication to selfless service leadership, whereas I say that institutions that blend the two prepare their students for greatest success...

"Elite civilian institutions expound academic achievement and upward mobility, not the ideals of leadership, selfless sacrifice, dedication, perseverance, and integrity that are ingrained at our nation's academies and war colleges."

Agree? Disagree? Read the rest from "Nobody Asked Me But...Military Education is a Real Deal."

On the importance of training and educating your charges so that they may be trusted with authentic authority and meaningful responsibility...

"Limiting authority leads to its deterioration that eventually extends to all ranks. As junior petty officers advance, these traits follow them and creep up the chain of command. Eventually, juniors only recognize the authority of higher and higher ranking grades, or worse yet, only in the wardroom. Concurrently, as less and less authority is exhibited, performance and leadership decline, and seniors are convinced to limit authority even further."

How do you vest meaningful responsibility in your junior people, a la "Reviving Authority?"

On the value of being a "learning organization" that invests heavily in education so as to create an elite leadership class of deep strategic thinkers...

"...the British Army [of the 1900s] had become an institution that ignored most everything that characterized modernity because it had become an army too busy to learn. Success, promotion, and public acclaim came with active service in a series of popular and not terribly stressful imperial campaigns against native peoples throughout the empire. Time spent in the staff college was time wasted.

"Service schools produce two classes: students and instructors. Students graduate with knowledge, valuable to be sure. But instructors return to the force with the wisdom accumulated from long-term immersion in a subject and an amplified appreciation of the art and science of war that comes from time to reflect, teach, research, and think.

"Our culture has changed to value and solely reward men and women of action. Just like their British antecedents, the personnel system rewards active service, not demonstrated intellectual merit."

I distill several guiding principles, applicable to all, from the article, "Too Busy to Learn," quoted above:

Develop a lifelong obsession with reading history and studying the art of [insert your profession or passion here];
Immerse yourself in foreign environments, learning and being enriched by those people, organizations, and ways of operating that are different from your own;
Seek and learn from partnerships; work in different fields, departments, offices, agencies that (while most likely adjacent or related to what you do) are a stretch from your regular pursuits.

Finally, "start by building a bench," nothing that "Any holistic effort at reform must start by rewarding and selecting those with the greatest intellectual gifts."

Service leaders in the community, nation, and world help answer the question "Why do you serve?"

2010-03-29T12:28:00.001-04:00

Six weeks ago I started a regular Monday segment at www.andrewdwelch.com that features personal thoughts and reflections on service, written (usually) by those who serve. I get a number of questions about the segment, so decided that I would discuss the idea a bit and recap the stories told since we got underway (instead of running a new post this week). As I explained in an early post...

I have been mindful of several notions as I write about service, leadership, and innovation on this blog. First is that (as I heard the Coast Guard's Admiral Papp discuss once in a speech) "there are heroes in our midst," and second, that service is something that comes in many forms. Sometimes it is done in a classroom, sometimes it is done in a uniform, sometimes it is done in a hospital, and most times it is done in places and ways that are neither glamorous nor easily recognized. With those principles in mind, I am seeking to answer the question "why do you serve" in a regular segment here. My hope is that these very personal accounts will tell the very important and meaningful story of how those among us are doing extraordinary things to serve their communities, their nation, and in some cases humanity the world over -- that service to others is so important because:

1. It is good for you;

2. It is good for those around you; and

3. It is good for those who you serve.

We'll hear from educators, scientists, community workers, doctors, clergy, and more in the future.

Since getting underway, of course, I have expanded to include a few pieces written by me, rather than first person accounts. The idea, at any rate, is to highlight many stories and varieties of service in the coming weeks. I'd like to shine a spotlight on the good things that others are doing, and, perhaps, encourage newcomers to do the same.

I hope you'll get in touch with me if you would like to write, or if you know of someone who has a good story worth telling. I've listed past stories, as well as some other profiles in service type posts that were the early inspiration for this idea, below so that you can get a flavor for the project.

Steve Pegram, Emergency Manager and USCG Auxiliarist, answers the question "Why do you serve?"

Jon Hemler, medical school student on a mission, answers the question "Why do you serve?"

Colin and Alma Powell take on the high school dropout challenge, and then answer the question, "Why do you serve?"

Red Cross volunteer Lorraine Nordlinger answers many calls, and then answers the question "Why do you serve?"

Rachel Polish, Coast Guard Reservist, answers the question "why do you serve?"

W. Samuel Sadler '61, a hero in our midst, receives Alumni Medallion at The College of William and Mary

"Director of Operations blog" reinforces relationship between USCG and professional mariners

Haitian Mother and Child Reunited Aboard USS Nassau

Education is the unique province of society that raises the bar of what is possible -- saluting teachers on Martin Luther King, Jr Day of Service

Leadership in the 21st Century: Learning from Admiral Allen's "iCommandant" Coast Guard blog

Thank you for reading, and to those the world over -- wherever you do your good work -- thank you for your service!

Bill Bratton focuses on Smart Power overseas based on U.S. policing (video)

2010-03-26T11:57:00.001-04:00

Following up on Tuesdays's post "Bill Bratton, America's "Top Cop," talks community policing and security in emerging nations at GovSec," a brief video from Chief Bratton's discussion at GovSec 2010 is now available from USIS online at www.youtube.com/usissecurity. From my post earlier this week:

Chief Bratton is quite an engaging, conversational, and personable speaker, and it was a pleasure to see him again. I'll share further thoughts on GovSec as we move forward, but I hope you'll engage with us via Twitter at #GovSec. Enjoy your afternoon!

Those interested in the future security of emerging nations and the civil-military partnerships required to ensure that future should view and share the video highlights below. Enjoy!

There is no "Free iPad" here... [just a spam scam]

2010-03-25T20:35:00.001-04:00

Unless, of course, you love spam (at best) or having your personal Internet accounts hijacked... and then there isn't a free iPad either. Someone forwarded me an email earlier this week inviting me to become an iPad tester through the website "TestitandKeepit." Actually, I fate was merciful on me because my friend only forwarded me the message. Her friend had, it seems, input a number of personal contacts into the site and distributed automatic emails to would-be "testers."

Right.

You see, what actually happened was that a friend of a friend was scammed into not only forking over her personal email address (and who knows what else), but the addresses of many of her contacts as well. And it was all in the name of having an opportunity to "test" the year's most popular device... I suppose because Apple just couldn't find anyone willing to endure the hardship, right? SophosLabs explains below. Bottom line? There is no "Free iPad" here, or likely anywhere...

How do you balance work and pleasure for yourself, and for those that you lead?

2010-03-25T12:06:00.000-04:00

My weekly leadership question comes on Thursday this week, thanks to the last two busy days at the GovSec conference in Washington, DC. Bill Annibell asked us on GovLoop earlier this week, "Are you a Workaholic?" He seems to have gotten, shall we say, a plentiful response (please have a look and share your thoughts with him).

I was speaking with someone several days ago about the concept of "work." As someone who tends to love most of what I do, I tend to use the word "work" quite liberally. Particularly insofar as my service in the Coast Guard Auxiliary is concerned, where many might see a tiresome job, I see only something that I choose, something that I love to do. I, dangerously one might argue, see a weekend assigned as an instructor at Yorktown, Virginia (as I did last weekend) as an enjoyable weekend quite well spent. I am in the presence of good friends and doing something that I really enjoy; perhaps not an afternoon playing out on the water (such as the summer day in 2008 pictured here), but something I hardly consider to be loathsome work.

So I largely discount the phrase "workaholic," and ask a different question:

How do you balance work and pleasure for yourself, and for those that you lead - particularly in an era where smart phones at home and social networks at the office have shattered the "nine to five" paradigm where "work" and "pleasure" occur in distinctly different venues?

As I debated this issue, I realized how freely I use the word "work," really to mean any activity with a clear and productive end in mind. I make little distinction between sitting at my desk at the office and, say, writing for pleasure because I don't take a negative view of work. "Work" is simply an activity characterized by the presence of effort in order to achieve something. Any activity no so characterized would, I suppose, be considered "not work." There is no value judgement here, and simply, I would say "if you love what you're doing, and willingly do it for pleasure, you're not a workaholic."

Answer to my own question? I determine what needs to be done, expect (and work diligently towards) its achievement of myself and those I lead, and then try let myself and others carry on living their lives. You will be surprised what is accomplished if you have nurtured a culture of trust such that you trust others to get the job done well.

Bill Bratton, America's "Top Cop," talks community policing and security in emerging nations at GovSec

2010-03-23T13:41:00.000-04:00

I was in the front row this morning as Bill Bratton -- forty year veteran and former Police Chief in Boston, New York City, and Los Angeles -- spoke at the Government Security (GovSec) Conference and Expo in Washington, DC. Chief Bratton spent some time afterwards with the folks from USIS as he signed books and chatted with attendees on the floor at GovSec (USIS and Altegrity Risk International, where Chief Bratton is the Chairman, are both Altegrity companies).

A video summary of Chief Bratton's conversation is forthcoming (hopefully highlighting his thoughts on community policing, which I neglected in the notes that follow), but in the meantime I wanted to share some his salient points (from my perspective, in any case).

"We need to learn from the past to inform the future."

"Partnerships, technology, accountability" have led to great law enforcement success.

"The military is in a new world now..." and that it is important that the policing world partner with the military.

The security of emerging nations will promote our security.

My thought: interesting how some of Chief Bratton's thoughts (I have highlighted my favorites in bold) seem to apply so widely in other applications, don't you think?

Chief Bratton is quite an engaging, conversational, and personable speaker, and it was a pleasure to see him again. I'll share further thoughts on GovSec as we move forward, but I hope you'll engage with us via Twitter at #GovSec. Enjoy your afternoon!

Steve Pegram, Emergency Manager and USCG Auxiliarist, answers the question "Why do you serve?"

2010-03-22T12:04:00.001-04:00

Steve Pegram is a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM), Coast Guard Auxiliary Aviator, and currently serves as Chief of the USCG Auxiliary Incident Management Systems Branch while serving with me in the USCG Auxiliary University Programs Branch. In his "day job," Steve is "Senior Client Consultant for Crisis Communications & Operational Integration" at a great company called Everbridge. Traveling the country working with various organizations on behalf of Everbridge, or making good things happen in the Coast Guard, Steve knows emergency management, and is truly dedicated to the safety of the American people. Steve quoted Albert Schweitzer when I first put the weekly question to him, "Why do you serve?"

I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve. ---Albert Schweitzer

I appreciate Steve Pegram following up on last week's great response from Jon Hemler (University of Virginia Medical School), answering with his own thoughts as he tackles the leader-as-servant ethic, the importance of paying it forward, local cultures of service, and his own personal joy in it all. Thank you for your thoughts, and thank you for your service!

My road to service actually began over 30 years ago when I was promoted into a leadership position at FedEx. The extraordinary journey began with an eight week boot camp on leadership development. Those classes and discussion sessions with senior leaders instilled in me the leader-as-servant ethic. Embracing this ethic is the singular thing that has most directly contributed to the successes I’ve had in both my professional and personal life.

I serve in order to give back to a community and a country that has been far better to me than I perhaps sometimes deserved. I serve to “pay it forward” from those people who have helped me along the way.

I serve to make some small contribution to support the active duty men and women of the US Coast Guard. These fine people stand the watch for us everyday and it is but a small thing I can do to thank them for the service.

I serve because I steadfastly believe that service should be a local, emergent meme and responsibility that involves everyone in whatever capacity that individual chooses and not abrogated to any central bureaucracy. Creating a culture of service locally ensures a healthy and resilient community.

And finally, I serve because there is joy in it.

Previewing next week as I head to USCG Training Center Yorktown today

2010-03-19T14:40:00.000-04:00

I had intended to start the weekend with the tale of a bizarre recent saga introducing a potential "switcher" to her own MacBookPro, but a busy day finds me sitting in the passenger seat on my way down from Washington, DC to the Virginia Peninsula to teach a weekend course at U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Yorktown, VA. The latest Apple-inspired saga will have to wait.

That said, next week will be a busy one. Check back for:

A Monday "Why do you serve?" post (check out the this week's thoughts from medical school) from a USCG Auxiliary aviator currently assigned with me to the University Programs Branch;
My thoughts as I spend Tuesday morning with Bill Bratten, formerly the police chief from Boston/New York/Los Angeles and now with Altegrity Risk International; Chief Bratten will be keynoting at the Government Security (GovSec) Conference and Expo, and will follow that with a book signing at the USIS booth where I will be talking international rule of law training with expo attendees;
The final installment of the "Basic Introduction to the Coast Guard" course (the most recent lesson covered Coast Guard History), when we'll be working with students as they chart their course and becoming operational members of the USCG Auxiliary;
...and, of course, my latest tale from my favorite latest hopeful "Mac switcher."

So I am, now, off to Yorktown on a beautiful day. Have a great weekend, folks, and thanks for making it a great week here at www.andrewdwelch.com!

Organizational and corporate strategy made manageable? Basecamp offers needed help!

2010-03-18T11:59:00.001-04:00

Today I am conducting a tutorial on the "Basecamp" web application from 37 Signals. On the surface, Basecamp is a web-based project management application that is insanely easy to use, straightforward, and truly geared to making you and your team more productive (rather than to packing as many features as possible into a single product, an exercise that usually results in the insanely difficult-to-use). Rather drivel on about the way the thing works, I'll let you take the audio/visual tour on the Basecamp website.

I've introduced Basecamp in a number of organizations that I've worked with, and I've seen it used in a number of unique and novel ways that are (I suspect) far from what the creators originally envisioned. My favorite, though, is in tackling a challenge that riddles a number of organizations and businesses alike: Deployment, execution, and tracking of organizational strategy.

How does your organization develop its long term strategy, and then turn it into something that is actionable, owned by your people at different levels, and measurable over a given period of time?'

Strategy, you see, is a tricky thing. As I explained to students in a class I taught last year, "Strategy goes more to your high level thinking, what are the big picture things you will do in order to accomplish your big picture, more long term goals?" In an organization bigger than a few people, or in one with a number of specialized or tactics/action level focused people, Strategy can be a very tough thing for folks to get their arms around, much less invest their efforts in.

In pondering this challenge last July, it occurred to me that Basecamp offered a near-perfect solution. I'll assume, for the purpose of this discussion, that you have already developed at least a modicum of organization vision, goals, and strategy to achieve both. Perhaps we'll have another post (or three) of that process later. Having done those things, I challenge you to answer the question:

What substantive milestones must we achieve this year in order to meet (or exceed) our organizational goals?

Think SMART (make your milestones Simple, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely). Make a list of as many as ten major major (double emphasis) projects or accomplishments such that achieving all of them would (barring catastrophe) constitute your best effort towards meeting those organizational goals of yours. Assign them dates, and make them your milestones in Basecamp. Then ask yourself:

What sets of actions, or individual projects, will be required in each milestone?

Now we're starting to talk actions. What are you, and your people, going to do to accomplish your milestones? If you're an event planner with a milestone to put on four major events in a given industry this year, you might turn each event into its own action plan. If you're out trying to win business, you might turn each key pursuit into its own action plan. Set up a to-do list in Basecamp for each action plan you need, and associate each to-do list with the relevant milestone that it supports.

Finally, start creating individual action items, assign them due dates, and then assign them to the person responsible. Then begin tracking your success deploying and making your organizational strategy actionable based on to-do items and milestones completed. Exercising some mental and organizational discipline and thinking somewhat linearly should allow you to start at the very high level that is your organizational or corporate strategy, and to then systematically narrow it down to the level of a milestone, an action plan, and an action item -- something that an individual on your team can own and accomplish today.

My intention here is not to over-simplify what can often be a highly analytical and intellectual process. My goal is to demonstrate how a simple tool can make an ambitious agenda both manageable to the leader and actionable on the part of those on the team. I encourage you to give the process, and Basecamp, a try. Tweak it, modify it, and never forget that at the end of the day it is not software, but rather leaders and followers together relying on their own talent and resourcefulness that make things happen.

How do you make the most of your meetings? How do you respect (and make the most of) the time of the people you work with?

2010-03-17T13:49:00.000-04:00

I've had two critical discussions with folks in the last week about the value of meetings, and how we can get more out of them (or have fewer of them). Then I read Scott Berkun's great piece from last week, "The Cult of Busy" (based on the essay "Why I Stopped Working with Busy People". All together, it's made for a week contemplating leaders (and followers) can shape their environment and shape their organization's results by better managing their time and resources. So in continuing my regular Wednesday leadership question, I ask:

How do you make the most of your meetings? How do you respect (and make the most of) the time of the people you work with?

My discussions this week (with two different people in two different organizations) have gone like this:

"You have to think that meetings at work cost money. Not only ask yourself 'what are we not producing while we sit there,' but also, 'what is the total cost of all the salaries for the hour that all those people spend in those meetings?' I walk in, and all I can see are dollar signs attached to everyone in the room."

And...

"I have started to try to revise our meetings as they are as boring as... They same format that has been used for many years is in play and it means that only a few can/do talk and there are often/usually side discussions or discussions between one or the that take forever. We have folks that never attend the meetings as they are so bad. What do you do in yours? Is there a set format? Is it geared to entertain, entice, or welcome new people other than they are visiting? Being with all of you has gotten me more geared for change!"

Sure, there are tools that can help (TimeBridge, as I reviewed several weeks ago, really helps), but I am more interested in how you as a leader make this work sans geeky scheduling tools. As always, I look forward to your thoughts!

Increased Coast Guard Auxiliary support for Marine Safety, Security, and Environmental Protection

2010-03-16T12:42:00.001-04:00

It was a heartening day back in January when RADM Sally Brice-O'Hara released modifications to the USCG Auxiliary marine safety training and qualifications. The "Prevention" community (perhaps more popularly known as "marine safety and environmental protection" or "Trident") within the Coast Guard Auxiliary has been home to some of our service's brightest and most devoted members, but lack of clear qualification guidance has made it notoriously difficult for newcomers to "break in" in the past. As the U.S. Coast Guard marine safety officer, currently serving with Flotilla Arlington | Northern Virginia, and hoping to one day fully qualify myself, the announcement was welcome news indeed.

For the uninitiated, the Auxiliary "Trident Program" provides us part-timers with an opportunity to train and qualify for a variety of missions geared (mostly) at preventative safety on the nation's waterways and stewardship (protection) of the marine environment. Initial qualification is more general, and features incident management and command training, and a broad introduction to the "marine safety" field. More advanced qualification includes inspection of various vessel types, contingency planning, investigations, pollution response, management, and public outreach/education (to name a few). A very important aspect of the program is that available opportunities are location-based; in other words, one is limited by the Coast Guard's needs in the area of the country that they live and serve. If your Sector (local operational command) has no need for additional passenger vessel examiners, then one is unlikely to have an opportunity to train and serve in that area. Completion of all training and on the job requirements results in the award of the "Trident Device," shown here.

I warn all readers that this post becomes more in depth and detailed as we go on; while the above serves as a brief primer on one of the Coast Guard's many missions, what follows offers information geared more to those currently serving.

These changes are great news for a couple of reasons. Firstly, The Coast Guard now has an expanded range of areas in which Auxiliarists may qualify, meaning that Sectors and local operational commanders now have additional ways to use part-timers to augment active duty personnel. Secondly, Auxiliarists now have more clear guidance as to what they may qualify to do, and how they may go about doing it.

...But, as with anything, there are responsibilities that come with this good news. Speaking for myself, I would like to see Auxiliarists embrace the changes and work hard to qualify in the areas for which they are needed, understanding that all of our service is driven by need for particularly things, not simply by our desire to do one thing or another. Remember: if there is no need for a particularly area of service where you live and work, you are unlikely to be able to train and serve in that area. On the active duty side, I would like to see Sectors take a hard look at where they need Auxiliary personnel to serve, and make a real effort to train and qualify people in those areas. I am pleased that Sector Baltimore (which includes my home and unit in Northern Virginia) seems to already be taking proactive steps to make this work. I received a message several weeks ago stating that personnel in our Sector are needed (and can train and qualify in) the following areas:

Container inspection;
Pollution Investigation;
Facility Inspection;
Commercial fishing vessel examination;
Uninspected passenger vessel examination.

I appreciate the hard work that our leadership have done (and continue to do) identifying these areas of need and equipping personnel to meet them.

I invite you to read for ALCOAST 045/10 message for all of the details. In a nutshell, though, the following new qualifications (specialty areas) have been created and are available:

AUXILIARY ASSISTANT MARINE CASUALTY INVESTIGATOR (AUX-FO)
AUXILIARY ASSISTANT MARITIME ENFORCEMENT INVESTIGATOR (AUX-EO)
AUXILIARY ASSISTANT SUSPENSION/REVOCATION INVESTIGATOR (AUX-FN)
AUXILIARY ASSISTANT T-BOAT INSPECTOR (AUX-TI)
AUXILIARY ASSISTANT K-BOAT INSPECTOR (AUX-KI)
AUXILIARY ASSISTANT MACHINERY INSPECTOR (AUX-MI)
AUXILIARY ASSISTANT MACHINERY INSPECTOR (STEAM) (AUX-MS)
AUXILIARY ASSISTANT BARGE INSPECTOR (AUX-BI)
AUXILIARY ASSISTANT HULL INSPECTOR (AUX-HI)
AUXILIARY ASSISTANT FOREIGN PASSENGER VESSEL EXAMINER (AUX-FPVE)
AUXILIARY ASSISTANT FOREIGN FREIGHT VESSEL EXAMINER (AUX-FFVE)
AUXILIARY ASSISTANT WATERWAYS MANAGEMENT REPRESENTATIVE (AUX-WM).

The following existing qualifications have been modified (so the training requirements have changed):

AUXILIARY MARINE SAFETY ADMINISTRATIVE/MANAGEMENT (AUX-MSAM)
AUXILIARY ASSISTANT CONTINGENCY PLANNER (FORMERLY AUXILIARY ASSISTANT CONTINGENCY PREPAREDNESS SPECIALIST) (AUX-ACP)
AUXILIARY UNINSPECTED PASSENGER VESSEL EXAMINER (AUX-UPV)
AUXILIARY UNINSPECTED TOWING VESSEL EXAMINER (AUX-UTV)
AUXILIARY ASSISTANT LIFE RAFT EXAMINER (AUX-LR)
AUXILIARY ASSISTANT PORT STATE CONTROL EXAMINER (AUX-PSCE) (FORMERLY PORT STATE CONTROL BOARDING TEAM ASSISTANT (AUX-AEI)
AUXILIARY PORT STATE CONTROL DISPATCHER (AUX-PSC)
AUXILIARY ASSISTANT CONTAINER INSPECTOR (AUX-CI)
AUXILIARY ASSISTANT FACILITY INSPECTOR (AUX-EU)
AUXILIARY ASSISTANT POLLUTION INVESTIGATOR (AUX-ED)
AUXILIARY ASSISTANT FEDERAL ON-SCENE COORDINATOR REPRESENTATIVE (AUX-ET) (FORMERLY AUXILIARY ASSISTANT POLLUTION RESPONSE SPECIALIST)
AUXILIARY PREVENTION OUTREACH SPECIALIST (AUX-MEES) (FORMERLY AUXILIARY MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION SPECIALIST).

Individuals that previously qualified in one of the above areas that have now been modified need not re-qualify. However, individuals currently working on a qualification in one of the above areas have 90 days (so until April 10, 2010) to complete qualification using the old requirements. Everyone must use the new requirements after April 10.

Ultimately, the growth of this operational community represents a huge opportunity both for Auxiliarists wishing to serve in new and exciting areas and missions, and for the active duty Coast Guard as they work hard to meet ever-growing mission demands. I appreciate the work of all, and look forward to moving forward.

Jon Hemler, medical school student on a mission, answers the question "Why do you serve?"

2010-03-15T12:07:00.002-04:00

As we continue to tell these great stories answering the question "why do you serve," I have thought often of my best friend. A medical school at the University of Virginia, Jon Hemler has already devoted his life, passion, and resources to healing others. He distinguishes himself daily as a "hero in our midst," whether in a doctor's office, in a church, or in the less formal places that Jon serves. Thank you, Jon, for your thoughts here, for your friendship, and for your service!

Doctor. The title brings to mind numerous images; that of a surgeon scrubbed in, a stethoscope listening to a child’s heart, a prescription pad. This is, to me, the quintessential definition of service. I am currently a third year medical student at the University of Virginia medical school in Charlottesville, VA. During my time here, medicine has challenged and enthralled me, but it has also dragged me down and discouraged me. It is both extremely rewarding and profoundly frustrating. But, what keeps me waking up every morning and doing the work I do is knowing that I am helping another human being in a unique and privileged way. The relationship between a doctor and patient is like no other relationship on this planet. Often, doctors are the people that patients reveal the most to about their lives. It is an extraordinary privilege to do what I do, but it is also very humbling. It makes you realize how many blessings you have when you take care of people day in and day out going through significant life-changing events.

If someone were to tell me they wanted to go into medicine for the money, I would truthfully tell them to look for a different profession. The average debt of a medical student today is $155,000, not including undergraduate loans. The road to becoming a doctor is extraordinarily challenging, and there are months on end spent doing nothing but studying. The residency training after medical school is arduous, working 80 hours a week or more for 3 or more years, and getting paid not nearly enough to pay off any loans. Given the current state of the U.S. health care system, I doubt that even the incomes of fully trained and licensed doctors are not going to go up by much in the near future. Granted, all doctors make enough to live comfortably, but certainly not as much as many people in law, business, or many other fields.

Why then do thousands of people apply for so few spots at the nation's medical school every year? For many, it is answering a call to serve, whether that be from God through faith, or an innate desire to improve the well-being of your fellow man. Service is about using your talents in a selfless giving to others. Mother Theresa said it best: “In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.” As a future doctor, I get to do these things as my job, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Coast Guard history lesson introduces new Auxiliarists to people and events that shaped the service

2010-03-12T12:57:00.001-05:00

People, organizations, businesses, nations, services are shaped by their history. We inherit current reality, to a large extent, from the people, events, and circumstances that precede us. Yet, organizations often neglect their newest members' basic education of their own history, leaving many to wonder, "why do we do this," or "where did this idea come from?"

We felt it very fitting, therefore, to combine our lesson concerning "Coast Guard Customs, Courtesies, and Traditions" with an immediate follow-on discussion of "Coast Guard History" in our "Basic Introduction to the Coast Guard" course. Traditions and history go hand in hand, so this instructional marriage makes good sense.

I'm eager to hear your Coast Guard History stories of people and events that have shaped the service (and your perception of it). Please share!

Image credit: Ryan Erickson and Sean Lawler, both USCG, produce and publish some fine Coast Guard inspired desktop wallpaper. This one, depicting the famous actions of Douglas Munro at Guadalcanal in 1942, is one of my favorites. View Ryan's full post here.

History

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We began with the origins of the Revenue Cutter Service, the organization that preceded the modern Coast Guard. Discussion immediately focused on the intent of Alexander Hamilton (known as "The Father of the Coast Guard") who wrote of the service's early officers:

"They shall endeavor to overcome difficulties, if any are experienced, by a cool and temperate perseverance in their duty - by address and moderation, rather than by vehemence or violence."

This letter is useful because it really speaks to the core of what the Coast Guard, and later the Coast Guard Auxiliary, was to become: a life saving service, devoted temperate perseverance in our duties and executing many of our missions in the very midst of the citizens that we serve. It is this service character that makes the Coast Guard so unique throughout history, and it is rooted in the days of our founding.

But the Coast Guard endured other defining moments, the founding of the Auxiliary in 1939 (then called the "Coast Guard Reserve") being chief among the interests of our class. There were, along the way, heroes and "characters" that guided the service to the current moment. Douglas Munro, famously immortalized as the Coast Guard's lone Medal of Honor recipient; Joshua James, the man who (I assert) foreshadowed the Auxiliary's tradition of long-time service when he served with the Life Saving service from the age of 15 to the age of 74 (when he died on duty); or Michael Healy and Ida Lewis, both forebears of the proud service given by groups that were not always welcome to serve -- all have left their mark.

An introductory lesson such as this affords little time for depth or detail, but we finished up with a discussion of the "tradition of accountability" and reflection on how our history has shaped our core values. Speaking of accountability, several of our students highlighted great points (showing just how much they have gotten out of BIC thus far); central among these was the theme of leadership, how so many active duty, reserve, auxiliary, and civilian personnel are charged with leadership of a unit, program, small boat, aircraft, or any number of other groups or assets, how with the privilege of leadership also comes accountability for the mission's success.

Indeed, it was a great class, and quite inspiring to see just how far we have come in just a few short weeks.

As always, the Basic Introduction to the Coast Guard (BIC) material is available online at http://link.cgauxnet.us/bic. Read this previous post for more background on the course or to learn how we got it underway. Feel free to use the material yourself, and of course please leave comments as to how we might improve BIC for future students. Thanks for reading, and thank you for your service!

Navigating the Social Media Landscape

2010-03-11T12:20:00.005-05:00

"Social Media" is a squishy topic to a lot of people, and particularly to decision makers within many organizations. The gurus seem to know what they are talking about -- mostly -- but even the concept of "social media expert" is riddled with fallacy. The problem, as I see it, is that social media has risen so far, so fast, to become a marketing, communications, and organizational priority, and there have been a great number of moderately savvy folks that have benefited from passing themselves off as "experts" along the way. It's not necessarily these peoples' fault: while most of us can Facebook with the best of 'em, a great number of organizations simply lack the in-house expertise to make sense of social media from a mission perspective, also know as, "how do we derive real business or organizational value from these services?" It's a tough challenge to find true experts in a field that is only a few years old.

I was therefore quite pleased yesterday when my friend, Erin Zagursky, sent me a link to "A CMO's Guide To The Social Media Landscape", a great article from CMO.com (Erin works in communications, University Relations at The College of William and Mary to be specific, so she should know a good article when she sees one - thanks, Erin). I really wish that I had a copy of this article and the really nice chart that accompanies it when I discussed social media with a group over lunch a few weeks ago; the chart is really great. CMO writes:

Social media marketing is expected to dominate this year -- so much so that 81% of CMOs plan to link their annual revenues to their social media investment, according to a recent survey by The CMO Club and Bazaarvoice. But the growing list of online social media sites makes choosing the right route complicated. From Facebook to YouTube to Digg and beyond, which media outlets will net the most bang for the buck in terms of customer communication, brand exposure, traffic, and SEO?

"The Social Landscape" chart, as published by the apparently quite insightful folks at 97th Floor, accompanied the article.

That graphic is a bit tough to read, so I recommend downloading the PDF either from my files or straight away from CMO.com. Forward this thing, print it out, share it with your friends and co-workers, get it in front of people who need to make decisions about where to allocate time and effort in social media.

I have personally opted to use a few of these. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube make the cut. I would also add a blogging (either through Blogger or WordPress, as each have their pros and cons) to the list. Twitter is a tool to reach and interact with "connectors," the tech-savvy people in society that influence others and care about being plugged in. Facebook is the means to richly communicate with the masses, and more particularly with your most loyal fans. LinkedIn connects to and exposes professional networks. YouTube is, of course, the leading video platform, providing a number of ways to package, mix, and share your (and others') videos.

All that said, the needs (and time to devote) of every person and organization differ. The trick here is finding the right social media cocktail that balances your goals, your audience, and your available resources.

Nomar Garciaparra retires with Boston Red Sox, sets example for all, restores my faith in humanity

2010-03-10T14:05:00.000-05:00

Nomar Garciaparra, Boston Red Sox shortstop from 1997 to 2004, signed a one-day contract with the team and promptly retired this morning. I don't write often here of my love of baseball and the Red Sox in particular, but this is such a poignant moment for me, and for Red Sox fans everywhere. First, a defense of this posts title...

Nomar's actions today set an example for all.
Few of us are professional baseball players, but most of us are professionals at doing something. Unfortunately, not all of us act professionally all the time, and we all know that professional athletes are far from saints. But today, like on so many other days, Nomar was a professional, and he was rewarded by an organization he loves and fans that love him.

Why today's events restore my faith in humanity.
Not to say that my faith in humanity needed to be restored (I am a big believer in our collectively boundless potential), and not to say that (even if my faith was lacking) international aid workers in Haiti or any of the other heroes in our midst aren't doing a fine job, but... Five and a half years after being traded away, Nomar remembered where he came from, the people that made him "Nomaa!", and he came home to offer thanks and call it a career. In a world where loyalty is expensive and job hopping is sometimes cheap (though less cheap than it used to be), where athletes are paid millions while those that pay them (the fans?) are not, Nomar was a class act. Sometimes the little gestures really mean a lot.

And finally, why do I care so much?
I love baseball. It is truly one of the most enjoyable diversions I have in my life. I love to watch it, I love to go to the games, I love to follow the players, and (when I was in college) I even loved to play it... very badly, on an intramural softball team. I didn't always love it, though. I played little league as a kid, and what an awful experience that was! Not only was I terrible, but I didn't have many friends on the team, and those two realities combined in the form of a lot of lonely time spent on the bench watching the talented kids play. But as life went on and I aged further away from those terrible memories of being ten years old, I began to love baseball again. With so many other things in life to worry about, I really bought in to what Jimmy Fallon would later tell me (in the movie Fever Pitch) is the goodness of "believing in something you have no control over" (or something like that). Baseball, in a feeling, just makes me happy. Back when I was falling in love (with baseball), it was Nomar who dominated everything... the shortstop and best player on the team I loved, the pride of America's greatest city, that was Nomar Garciaparra. Just as I have come to love baseball, so too do I love this moment today, seeing my favorite player come home to my favorite team in such respectable fashion.

It's a good day to be a Red Sox fan, and I am not the only one who thinks so.

How do you recognize and reward your people?

2010-03-10T12:10:00.000-05:00

Messages about our upcoming "Best in Class Competition" (BICC) are going out at work. On the Coast Guard side of my life, I see folks taking a hard look at the Coast Guard Innovation program and considering how they can take part. These are both great programs in the two places where I spend my professional life, but they are just that: programs. Programs are great, but my thinking today goes more to the things that individuals and teams do in the vast spans of time between official programs. Leadership is about far more than grand proclamations and new initiatives.

Last week there was a great response to my question, "How do leaders promote and support the health and well-being of those that they lead?" It seems that out in the world each week there is a new challenge that presents itself, so I'll try to make these questions an each-Wednesday theme. This week I had occasion to see talented, hard-working people find success and then be largely unrecognized by the otherwise good people that are "in charge." It's the classic "when the boss takes credit for the great work that you did." My question this week is, therefore:

How do you recognize and reward your people, motivating tomorrow's improvement over today's already good results?

Please consider that I am not necessarily talking about group call-outs, public recognition, certificates, trophies, and ribbons. Those are surely a part of the equation, but I am looking for the whole picture, and I am convinced that there has to be something out there more meaningful than the same-old. I look forward to and appreciate your thoughts!

Students begin to understand, embrace, and honor traditions and customs through "Basic Introduction to the Coast Guard"

2010-03-09T12:05:00.006-05:00

Every organization, every company, every group of people have their traditions and customs. At work we have bagels every Friday morning. When I was in college, thousands of us got together outside every December and listened to the President of The College read us How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

What makes the Coast Guard, Coast Guard Auxiliary, and indeed all of the United States Uniformed Services unique, we explained to our students last week, is how deeply rooted in centuries of tradition we are. Thinking back to our discussion of the Coast Guard's Core Values, we discussed how we honor and respect not only the public, ourselves and those we serve with, but also the traditions and customs that span generations, and how we derive a measure of our devotion from the connections and sense of purpose that those customs engender. So began the "Basic Introduction to the Coast Guard" (BIC) lesson on "Customs, Courtesies, and Traditions."

The enduring lesson from this discussion, the one that can be taken out into any organization, is this: understand, embrace, and honor those customs that make your organization unique, and then cultivate their appreciation in the hearts and minds of others. Make them an integral part of your organization's social fabric, set an example, and ensure that everyone from the shop floor to the corner office, from orientation training to the exit interview, understand embrace, and honor those customs as well.

Customs, Courtesies, Traditions

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Particular customs, terminology, ways of doing things make us unique (in any organization). I am surprised at how words like "hallway" have completely disappeared from my vocabulary over the years. Often minor, part of a strong group is having small cultural momentos that each of the members share.

Coast Guard Auxiliarists often are more relaxed or informal in the way they work or communicate. When you live and work a life outside of the Coast Guard, you naturally bring many aspects of that life to the place you serve. Auxiliarists are unique among people in uniform in the way that, when amongst themselves, tend to prefer a first name over a title, and certainly a handshake over a salute. Ultimately, though, we are with our active duty and reserve counterparts, all part of the same service. Knowing how, and understand when to observe and practice time-honored traditions and courtesies is an important part of our service.

In honoring our traditions, we show respect for the public, those we serve with, those that have gone before us, and those that will follow our example. I touched on this point earlier, but it is worth reiterating. From time to time we encounter someone that doesn't meet a high standard. Everyone has their reasons, but greeting a Captain or observing colors is about far more than going through motions. These are daily, even instantaneous reminders of what I have heard called a "proud history, worthy mission."

Be friendly. On a lighter note, I always urge my students in this class to just be friendly. There is a time and a place for everything, but every time and every place is proper for respectful friendliness. Whether in the "hallway" at work or the "passageway" aboard ship, offer that "warm and friendly greeting" to the colleagues or shipmates you work with. It's a lesson that works anywhere, in any organization.

As always, the Basic Introduction to the Coast Guard (BIC) material is available online at http://link.cgauxnet.us/bic. Read this previous post for more background on the course or to learn how we got it underway. Feel free to use the material yourself, and of course please leave comments as to how we might improve BIC for future students. Thanks for reading, and thank you for your service!

Colin and Alma Powell take on the high school dropout challenge, and then answer the question, "Why do you serve?"

2010-03-08T12:14:00.001-05:00

Former Secretary of State, and retired Army General, Colin Powell and Mrs. Alma Powell hit the airwaves last week discussing their hopes and work to keep more kids in school. They spoke of a challenge and their reasons for taking it on, but as I watched the interview, I couldn't help but think that we had just found this week's very appropriate answer to the question, "Why do you serve?" (See what Lorraine Nordlinger, Red Cross Volunteer, had to say last week).

Interesting to note that NPR tackled nearly the same issue several days ago (did I miss the memo on this week being the week the debate the American drop-out rate?). Further interesting (and shocking) is the statistic suggesting just how many high school students we're talking about here.

An American teenager drops out of high school every 26 seconds. Yes, seconds. Wow. Take a moment to watch the interview below.

Several ideas from the interview stick out to me. First is the notion that this is not only an educational challenge, but an economic and security concern as well. Too often we look at a challenge of national importance and think of it in such simple terms, but this one isn't simple. America's ability to excel in the future, as a nation, depends not only on having "all hands on deck" to work hard and move the country forward (an impossible dream so long as we have a kid jumping overboard every 26 seconds), but we also depend on not having to reverse course, turn around, rescue, and then spend a lifetime caring for those that do drop out. I am reminded of a speech I heard President Obama give last year, in which he explained to kids that they couldn't quite on themselves and quit on the country, because they are too important, because we need them too much. Every person that fails to achieve his or her own potential not only hurts their own chances in life, but the chances of all those that might have benefited from that person's success. An economic and security problem indeed.

Secondly, and more personally, was Mrs. Powell's explanation as to why this issue is so important to her, answering the question "Why do you serve?" She says:

"For those that are given much, much is expected."

I repeat, "For those that are given much, much is expected."

Thank you for telling this story and taking this issue on. Thank you for your service.

Tired Friday, and apparently an 87% chance my cat is plotting to kill me...

2010-03-05T12:08:00.000-05:00

I quite enjoyed Ryan Erickson's quip several months ago, "If I don't show up at work next week you now know why..." So much so, in fact, that I made a mental note, "definitely using that one on a Friday after a long week when my brain is too tired for a blog post."

Well, today's the day. Nicholas (my cat) had better be careful...

Thanks, Ryan, for the tip. Thanks to everyone else for making this a great week writing and discussing at andrewdwelch.com.

If you didn't do so already, go read and respond to my question of the week, "How do leaders promote and support the health and well-being of those they lead?"

Have a great weekend, folks!

TimeBridge let's busy people (like me) "be a meeting hero"

2010-03-04T12:01:00.003-05:00

I do not often encounter web services or applications that I am willing to pay actual money for. With so much given away for "free," the "premium version" had better reach a unique level of excellence or value to be worth my while. TimeBridge -- the "web application that makes it incredibly easy to schedule and lead great meetings" -- has truly reached that level in the two months that I have been using it. And while I know folks very happy with the free version, I have deemed it well worth the nominal fee I now pay for the premium offering.

TimeBridge in a nutshell... you sign up for an account, and you connect your Google, Microsoft Outlook, or Apple iCal calendar to sync with your new TimeBridge account. When its time to schedule a meeting, you simply give your upcoming get together a subject, decide who to invite (TimeBridge syncs the contacts from your address book, too), and then choose up to five times that work on your calendar (it will tell you if any attendees who are also TimeBridge users are busy at the times you choose). Click send, and carry on living your life. TimeBridge will sync the tentative times to your calendar, thereby blocking them off in your schedule, and will send your attendees an email allowing them each to choose the times that work for them. Once everyone has replied, TimeBridge automatically schedules the meeting, dumps the tentatives from your calendar while leaving the final time, and sends an invite to each of your attendees so that they can automatically add it to their Google or Outlook calendar. If no time works for everyone, TimeBridge emails you with the option to propose new times or schedule anyway.

Oh, and if any of your attendees also use TimeBridge, the times when they are busy will be automatically grayed out when you are choosing potential meeting times. There's even a nifty page called "MeetWith.me" that you can distribute to people you know so that they can make arrangements with you, based on your schedule, without actually seeing your schedule. TimeBridge handles it all. Once the meeting has been arranged, the system creates a "Meeting Room" where you (and your attendees) can propose agenda items, set and assign action items, and contribute to a consolidate group of meeting notes that everyone can share (you can even import those notes into your Evernote account).

The best news: It doesn't matter whether you or your attendees use Google, Microsoft Outlook, or Apple iCal as their calendar. TimeBridge truly bridges the different platforms, and let's everyone work together.

There are extras, too!
Everyone gets an e-mail fifteen minutes (or however many you choose) before meeting time. If you've entered your cell number, you get a text message too. Running late? Just respond on your phone or computer and everyone gets a message letting them know. Someone doesn't show up? Yes... you can use the system to automatically "ping" attendees. The iPhone app -- which I admit requires some additional features -- is great at what it does do, allowing you to run late, ping others, or view the agenda on the go. Remember, TimeBridge has already put all of your meetings on your personal calendar.

And what you see above, yeah, that's just the free account...
I've opted to pay $8.99 per month for a conference call line and unlimited web conferencing (including slide sharing, screen sharing, a group whiteboard, and video conferencing). All you do is check the box "Make this a phone conference" or "Make this a web conference" during the scheduling step, and all of your attendees are automatically sent the info. You can then use the iPhone app to call in to the conference call, saving you the hassle of having to dial the number or enter the access code.

Cranky co-workers ruin the party.
Sadly, not all of us can be schedule maestros or tech geeks, and not all of your co-workers will want to sign up. Call them luddites, or cavewomen, or just too busy... but regardless, your bound to get an agitated email from someone who is unhappy that they have to "vote" on a meeting time. My recommendation? Avoid using TimeBridge for one-on-one or very small group meetings within your own organization if you are already on the same page using Outlook or Google Calendar to share your schedules, and avoid making your boss vote on meeting times. There is a rule of courtesy in the military that tells junior people to get into the car first so that the senior person can get out first and go on with their busy lives -- TimeBridge is much the same, and its a fair bet that your boss is too busy to vote on the best time to meet with you.

The missing link?
Actually, yes, three of them in fact. TimeBridge is great, but to the folks who built it (they are great, very friendly with great customer service, and in the interest of full disclosure, they did send me a TimeBridge tee-shirt)... I have a few feature requests.

Let me email an Outlook invite that someone sends me to TimeBridge and let the system interpret the message and put the meeting on my schedule with all the good info. If TriptIt can do it with travel arrangements, you should be able to do it for meetings.
Let me schedule meetings from my iPhone app. This is big.
Let me create a meeting where I am the only attendee; I may want to avoid sending my boss a scheduling ballot, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to take avantage of the virtual Meeting Room to gather my thoughts, list agenda items, and take notes.

Yes, TimeBridge, you have a winner here. Thanks for helping us to become "meeting heroes!"

Lesson in Coast Guard Correspondence removes barriers to written communication for new Auxiliarists

2010-03-04T09:30:00.002-05:00

Consider how often poor communication keeps you from being effective in your mission, whatever that mission may be. It was for this very reason that, while not necessarily an entertaining topic, we felt it was important to spend some time getting our new Auxiliarists acclimated to "Coast Guard Correspondence" in the most recent lesson as part of our "Basic Introduction to the Coast Guard" course.

As one expects in any organization, we generate a lot of written content in the Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary. Whether through emails coordinating operations or training, documents and reports, letters in which we represent ourselves to outside entities, press releases or online content, or travel orders, the occasion invariably arises to put the proverbial pen to paper and get the message across. The classroom presentation below is intended to point new Auxiliarists in the right direction so they can communicate the written word with confidence and clarity.

Coast Guard Correspondence

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As always, the Basic Introduction to the Coast Guard (BIC) material is available online at http://link.cgauxnet.us/bic. Read this previous post for more background on the course or to learn how we got it underway. Feel free to use the material yourself, and of course please leave comments as to how we might improve BIC for future students. Thanks for reading, and thank you for your service!

How do leaders promote and support the health and well-being of those they lead?

2010-03-03T14:35:00.001-05:00

We were treated to the Olympics last month. As I watched those athletes compete as both the finest example of human health and fitness, as well as the finest representation of people and nations at their very best, my thoughts turned to mere mortals -- my own health, and the health of those I lead, serve, and work with. Of ensuring the health and well-being of the people you lead, I have been advised that:

Leaders consider the environment in which they and their people work, attending to safety and well-being. They effectively identify and manage stress. They set a personal health example with emphasis on a program of physical fitness and emotional strength. Leaders encourage others to develop personal programs including physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.

My question, therefore, is:

How do we, as leaders of teams, organizations, corporations, government -- and wherever else we work -- promote and support the health and well-being of the people we lead (and, ultimately, serve)?

I am eager for your thoughts, and thankful for your leadership!

Incidentally, you are correct if your first thought is "Coast Guard Leadership Development Framework." Indeed, I didn't make up the description of "Health and Well Being" listed above, but rather pulled it from the "Health and Well Being" competency in the U.S. Coast Guard's very fine leadership framework. The table below, sourced from that manual, provides a snapshot that may help guide your thinking.

Talking social media over lunch in West Virginia with my "yoU iS I iS Open" discussion last week

2010-03-02T12:08:00.000-05:00

I spent the day last Thursday in Martinsburg, WV discussing "social media" with a group of about 100 community leaders over lunch. Of course, I am breaking my own rule here using the phrase "social media" in my first sentence here; while I think the phrase is instructive of philosophy, I also find it misleading. Isn't most (or all) media inherently social in some way?

I titled the presentation "yoU iS I iS Open," a play on my employer's, USIS, efforts to promote a culture of openness within the organization through the use of new media tools. Ours is a recent effort (underway December 8 of that year), but it has already begun to connect our people spread very far afield with our leadership in Falls Church, VA.

In any case, I really enjoyed "going home" (so to speak) to West Virginia to spend a few hours with folks at the Martinsburg Rotary Club sponsored lunch. Thank you, everyone, for having me. We really tried to be slide light and spend more time looking at some social media elements in practice, but were limited by technical difficulties. My presentation is below, along with some brief slide by slide explanation.

yoU iS I iS Open:

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The notion of "openness"
It's cliche, it's a buzzword, and it's overused, but the idea of being "open" to your customers and your coworkers is at the center of the new media value proposition. Part of this, as we discussed later, is about accepting the risk (or reality) that there are people out there that don't like you. New media provides another opportunity to overcome this sad but true state of affairs. I cited as an example the day when my cable went out, and I was clearly not happy with Cox Communications. I posted a rather flippant tweet about it, and within 30 minutes Cox had contacted me and was getting the problem fixed. Suddenly I went from being an irritated customer to singing praises (at least for now) about my cable company.

I spent a moment highlighting the work I am currently doing in my job at USIS, in a variety of assignments with the Coast Guard Auxiliary, and as an advisor to science-focused media and PR firm WHITECOAT Strategies. My blog tells the story to a greater extent...

The Internet and the Cocktail Party
One of my favorite analogies (and told in the Jobsian way, with nothing but an image in the background): think of the Internet, and social media in particular, as a cocktail party. Now, at every party, there are small knots of people that form and mingle. These groups form around interests, work experiences, pre-existing friendships, and a number of other social distinctions that we use to define ourselves. Nothing wrong with this, but we're here to make new friends, right? Just as certain the knots of people will form in a room is the inevitability that a newcomer, or a social butterfly will walk over, introduce him or herself, and try to join in. As friendly folks, we're usually eager for the opportunity to talk with someone new... unless the only thing on their agenda is talking about their lives, their work, and the things that are important only to them. Life on the Internet works similarly, and the lesson is clear: if you are coming to the party without any intention of engaging with and caring about the needs and interests of the people you interact with, then you are likely to become irrelevant very quickly. The group will vote with their feet (or clicks) and move you right along.

In expanding the paradigm, I tried to make connections between new ("That which is new") and traditional ("That which we knew") media. The slide is self explanatory, and I find this to be a particularly useful discussion for those that have not delved too deeply into the topic.

A culture of openness
The most important theme, I think, when I speak on this topic is the importance of making openness a part of your organization's culture. I am not describing a "warm and fuzzy," business case dubious, environment, but rather an environment where the opinions and contributions of all are valued, and social media provides the outlet to share them. The Coast Guard does an excellent job here, from thousands of individuals that make up our active duty, reserve, auxiliary, and civilian force -- all empowered by their own voice -- to our most senior leaders, to the organization itself. I cited some of my favorite examples in my presentation.

Wrapping up with a thought provoking article I read a while back, "No, I don't want to be friends with my butter," I challenged everyone to consider what value their products or ideas offer the Internet faithful, and how they might be able to capitalize on that value in real, meaningful, and authentic ways that go beyond "just making friends with your condiments."

Again, I thank the folks in Martinsburg for having me, and I with you the best of luck in your personal and organizational "social media" efforts!

Auxiliarists are introduced to the Coast Guard's enlisted force in most recent BIC lesson

2010-03-02T09:59:00.002-05:00

Just as last week's "Basic Introduction to the Coast Guard" (BIC) lesson exposed our new Auxiliarists to the service's officers, so too did the most recent discussion with the class focus on the Coast Guard's enlisted workforce. I am reminded each time I teach these topics of how foreign they can be to newcomers with no prior background or experience with the uniformed services. There really is no perfect analogy in the private sector -- I have found it rare for a kid to graduate from college and be immediately expected to lead others, and I have found it even more rare for a 19-year-old to be responsible for making decisions that impact the fate of millions of dollars of equipment and the lives of his crew. Yet, this is often what is expected in the Coast Guard. Even Auxiliarists, part-timers with busy lives outside of the Coast Guard, quickly find themselves taking on responsibility for missions and programs that are in some cases quite different from their "day jobs" (an example being my teaching in our program at The College of William and Mary in the short years after having graduated from that very school).

The org chart matters, but it doesn't. It's tempting, particularly for linear thinkers, to look at the E-1 pay-grade on a chart and then slide their eyes to the right, passing through the Warrant Officers and move all the way over to the O-10 bracket and believe that the chart tells the story about who is in charge, who knows more, and where the authority for action really lies. And while all this does matter to the military "chain of command," it also matters that a Senior Chief Boatswain's Mate, left of a Lieutenant Junior Grade on the chart, likely knows more about boat and ship handling than that recently minted junior officer will know for many years to come. That junior officer stands to learn much by making that Senior Chief his mentor. Furthermore, while we in corporate America seem to often feel this inexplicable urge to "run it by" (I detest that phrase) the Vice President, Petty Officers aboard a small boat on a search and rescue mission often don't have that luxury. In the Coast Guard, everyone is a leader somewhere, of something, of someone, in some set of circumstances that are not necessarily easy to predict from the comfort of a classroom. In the Coast Guard, leadership and accountability go hand in hand, and are principles that transcend rank.

Respect is mutual. The BIC course focuses extensively on the Core Values, and makes a point of tying them back to whatever content is covered. Everyone in our organization has a story to tell and important skills or experience to offer. Though an Auxiliary Flotilla Commander, a Third Class Petty Officer, a Commander, a Senior Chief, and the Commandant all perform different jobs of different magnitude across different specialties, their service to their community and country is no more or less significant and deserving of respect than the service of any of their shipmates. Thinking of a Senior Chief who mentored me through my early days as an Auxiliarist, I explained to our students, "Upon meeting officers, you greet them as 'Sir or Ma'am'... they've worked hard for that title, and they've earned it. Upon meeting Senior Chiefs, you greet then as 'Senior Chief'... they've worked hard for that title, and they have most certainly earned it."

Enlisted Personnel

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